Of Apples and Oranges
by ThatOnePairofGlasses
Summary: Aurum Creste had two secrets. One: she was of quarterblood. Two: she was afflicted with Lycanthropy. How can she keep it from her friends and deal with the daily troubles of it all?
1. Lycanthrope

AN: hey you know what's the best thing about this story

its pre-written. So I don't have to worry about updates lmao. Not sure when I'll update this. Maybe every couple days? It's only eleven chapters, but I'm thinking of extending it all the way to Deathly Hallows. The PoA part is already in the works.

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 _"'Dear Chantelle Chandeliere,_

 _I'm delighted to inform you that I'm transferring to Hogwarts this year, my second year. I am aware that this means we won't be seeing each other anymore, but I'm very excited about getting to meet Harry Potter soon. You remember how big of a crush I had on him? Of course, I still have it. Harry's a Hogwarts celebrity, and I'm dying to meet him._

 _My neighbor, Gregory, also goes to Hogwarts. It'll be nice to start seeing him again for more than just a summer. He says he has a couple other friends, too. I hope we can just hang out together._

 _The Sorting Hat has already told me what house I will reside in. Slytherin. Interesting, isn't it? I've read up upon it. Apparently, Salazar Slytherin, the founder of the house, wished only for purebloods to be in the Slytherin House. Funny how I'm of quarterblood? I believe I'll have to lie about my bloodline if I want to survive._

 _It's horrible how my brother, Argentum, still attends Durmstrang, and how grandmother just lets him. She believes wizards should follow their own path and should not be prohibited by anything or anyone. Yes, I was unsuccessful in convincing her to demand him to go to Hogwarts with me. Thankfully, he will be graduating in three years._

 _I do wish I could still be at Beauxbatons with you, my dear Chantelle, but I am definitely looking forward to this new chapter in my life! Happy Birthday! I wish you many years!_

 _Sincerely, Aurum Creste_

 _P.S. Say hello to Coro for me. Such a sweetheart; I hope he won't miss me.'"_

A girl of medium-height and plump nature turned to her horned owl which sat upon her table. The owl was very old, and very tired. It had been in the Creste family for only a year, however, the girl treated him like he had been with them for her whole life.

She petted the owl like a dog: under the chin. It didn't seem to mind that though, in fact, it loved the attention it received from her.

"Did that sound alright, Dragon?" Aurum asked the owl as if it was human. "I want to make sure it's okay for Chantelle to read. She is my best friend you know."

Aurum stood and rolled up the letter, taking a red piece of yarn and tying it up. She handed it to Dragon for delivery.

"Make sure it gets to Chanetelle. Oh! I almost forgot!"

Aurum swept the long, golden blonde hair out of her eyes that didn't seem to follow suit in the back, and with quick steps, she dashed towards her bed from her writing desk. Kneeling down, she reached under her bed and pulled out a colossal in comparison to Dragon package, who was really quite small for a horned owl. Dragon's silvery grey eyes widened at the sight of it. Aurum, nevertheless, handed it to him happily, confident in her pet bird.

Dragon rolled his big eyes and grasped the package in his talons, the letter in his beak.

"Now that's incredibly important, Dragon. It'll be Chantelle's birthday in a week, and I know this will take a while for you to deliver. That package contains my first novel ever. I want her to be the first to own a copy." Autumn explained to her owl. "Oh! That reminds me! I must start soon on the sequel!"

Aurum rushed out of her bedroom once her owl flew off and out of the window. After seeing her pet leave, she felt assured that her life could carry on as usual. She believed he would deliver the package safely. That's just how Aurum was.

Aurum Creste was a twelve-year-old girl who believed that everyone was at least a little good. She saw nice things in everyone. Perhaps she was a little naive, and maybe she knew this. If she did, she certainly didn't mind. Aurum believed that while there were bad times, something good could also come out of it, even if it wasn't readily apparent.

As she ran down the stairs, Aurum thought excitedly of her friend's happy face when she got her present. The blonde's happiness soon disappeared when she saw her brother out of the corner of her eye in their grandmother's potion room—quite obviously a room for brewing potions.

Aurum stomped into the room angrily. Her face had suddenly twisted from extreme delight to extreme abhorrence. Not that she hated her brother, quite the contrary. She loved him and didn't want to see him doing the dark things he did. It was quite obvious why he tried to perform dark magic and horrible things. It seemed that he was trying to make up for his being a quartblood. Their father was a squib and their mother was a muggle-born. Argentum was trying to get away from all of this and make his own path.

"What do you want, brat?" Argentum spat, pushing up his glasses and smoothing his snow white hair back . He toiled away at the bubbling potion before him. The more he stirred, the more scarlet the carmine concoction became.

"What are you doing? You know we're not supposed to be in gramma's potion room! She's gonna kill you when she gets home!" Aurum stamped her foot in frustration at her elder brother. On rare occasions, her eyes would suddenly turn yellow, a great departure from her chocolate brown ones. This was one of those times.

"What I'm doing is none of your business or gramma's. She's at a meeting with Albus Dumbledore, she doesn't know about this." Argentum argued. Then, he took a long, ebony wand with a bone-like carving out of his pocket. "If you know what's good for you, you won't tell." he threatened.

"You can't use magic on me, the ministry'll take you in!" Aurum pointed out.

"My wand was made in Bulgaria. The Ministry of Magic has no control over me right now." Argentum turned on his sister, pressing the wand against her head. She gulped in fear. "Now, you won't be tattling, will you?"

She shook her head no, pressing her lips tight so as to not even allow a peep to slip through the cracks.

"Good, that's what I thought." Argentum returned to his potion brewing and Aurum left him alone.

Aurum walked around the house. She hadn't been alone in the house with Argentum since going to Beauxbatons. She hadn't really explored everything to see what had changed.

The kitchen was the same old cramped room, complete with a small stove and a big fridge which she hoped was stocked with the meat she had been craving since yesterday. The dining room still held its elegance, especially with the chandelier and the furniture adorned with diamonds and pearls. The living room was as big as ever, and just as odd. Strange figurines and gargoyle-like statues were scattered around the house. It was as if you were walking into a dungeon, though one that was comparably comfortable. The sofas and seats were made of leather and appeared tastefully of the Victorian Era. Aurum had forgotten how much she missed the house.

Something jumped out at her atop the glass coffee table. It was a letter. Aurum picked it up nosily. She knew it was likely none of her business. Perhaps it had simply called to her. Curiosity killed the cat, and the owl in a cage in front of her seemed to be warning her of that with its screeching, but hopefully satisfaction would bring her back.

It read:

 _"Dear Remus,_

 _I am afraid I'm getting more and more worried about Aurum and her lycanthropy. I know that it can be controlled, but the last outburst was certainly the worst. I suppose the best part is that she doesn't know, but I don't know how long I can keep it from her. The forgetting potions soon won't be enough. She's going off to Hogwarts this year, and I know it will be hard for her there. I'll have to tell her before she departs. I do hope she doesn't take it horribly._

 _My point in writing to you is asking you a question. Please, Remus, how did you cope with your lycanthropy? I don't know how to help her. The most I can do is make wolfsbane for her, but I'm very forgetful, and I think that forgetfulness passed down to her through her father. I don't think she'd remember to take it even if I could actually make a school year's supply._

 _Please write back to me soon, or better yet, won't you come over? I've missed you terribly. I haven't seen you in person since our days in the Order. Make an old woman happy, won't you?_

 _Sincerely, Pearl Creste"_

Aurum put the letter down and looked at the owl in a cage in front of her. It had been screeching since she looked at the letter. She looked around, panicking, hoping to find a way to shut it up. It was Platinum, their family owl.

Argentum came rushing into the living room from the potion room. He looked between her and the owl, snickering. He snapped his fingers raucously, making the owl recoil and hush.

"I snatched that letter out of the sky for you." he told Aurum, letting Platnium out of his cage with a snappy, "Alohamora". The owl grabbed the letter in his beak and took off. "I hoped you'd read it and finally find out about your disease. I think it's awful that she's hiding it from you."

"Well I still don't understand. What's 'lycanthropy'?" Aurum asked, scratching her head and looking after Platinum.

"'What's lycanthropy'! 'What's lycanthropy'! Ha! You don't know what lycanthropy is? How ironic. You're a werewolf, Aurum." Argentum howled with laughter.

Aurum sincerely laughed along with him. "Good one, Argen! I can't be a-a werewolf."

"Oh? But haven't you ever craved raw meat? Felt closer to animals than normal? Ever had your eyes turn yellow? Dear sister, those are the signs of lycanthropy." Argentum explained, removing his glasses and cleaning them with the velvet violet bathrobe he had been wearing all day.

Aurum pondered on this for a few moments. She thought about the idea of werewolves. Werewolves didn't have the best reputation. Though lycanthropy was simply a nonvolatile disease when treated correctly, it was still seen as highly dangerous, especially to those without it. Being a werewolf meant endangering the ones around you. During a full moon, anything could happen. Aurum, valuing friendship and togetherness above all else, didn't like the sound of this. Was there any good in this?

"If you tell grandmother I informed you of this, your dead meat." Argentum looked around. Quickly spotting a house spider, he pointed his wand at it and shouted, "Crucio!"

Aurum was taken aback. The spider wrenched in pain. It crumbled to its knees and writhed all around, falling off of the hearth and onto the floor, effectively killing it.

"Sans the falling to your death, if those lips don't stay locked, that's gonna be you." Argentum warned. Aurum nodded, fully understanding him. She knew he was only bluffing, this was probably the hundredth time he had threatened her like this, but she obeyed him anyway. It was the least she could do since he went through the trouble to tell her about it. Ignorance was certainly bliss, but not knowing is remiss.

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AN: before you read on.

Dont get your panties in a twist if something's different or a character is ooc. I did a lot of that intentionally because it messed with my story. Here's the thing, people make stories about OC's getting with canon characters and stories rewriting others. I don't think there's anything wrong with putting them together. Yes, Draco will have new parts to his character and will eventually become tolerant. What's the difference between this and Tumblr headcanons? Sorry about the rant, it just bothers me.

Also I will be answering questions at the end of each chapter! So I'm always open! I'm also open to legit criticism :0 like that Argentum may be potentially abusive or something like that(I am trying to tone him down a lot). Or that Aurum is not a real name. I'll call her Tiffany more in that case

just note that it's going to be hard to edit some parts where it is pre-written lol so if I don't fix it, I'll keep it in mind for the next part


	2. Neighbor

AN: this is just sad exposition. I guess I'm doing this daily

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Aurum giggled underneath her sheets. Holding them up was hers and Gregory Goyle's heads. A flashlight was there to light everything up.

"This really takes me back to our younger days." Aurum snorted, laughing. "I can't believe we're having this kind of sleepover."

"We've already made our pillow fort and watched scary movies with popcorn, so telling spooky stories is the only thing left. Besides, you talk like we're thirty." Gregory rolled his eyes.

"I wouldn't mind doing this when we're thirty." Aurum shrugged.

"We will if you'd really want to."

"I'd really like to."

Gregory held out his hands and snarled, attempting to scare Aurum, but only ended up making her laugh, causing him to follow suit.

Gregory became serious again and held the flashlight to his face. "I've heard that there's a monster in the bathrooms in Hogwarts. It was brought in by Salazar Slytherin who hates muggle-borns!"

"Dun dun dun." Aurum giggled.

"I'm trying to tell a serious story, Aura! Listen! Salazar brought in a monster to kill muggle-borns and every fifty years a descendant comes to take control of the monster. I heard that last time, a man actually succeeded in killing a girl on the toilet. Now, she haunts the bathroom. This year marks another fifty years..."

"This isn't real, is it?" Aurum shrunk under the sheets. Gregory grabbed her arms to keep her from leaning completely back and destroying their sheet fort.

"If it was, I wouldn't let it get you. You're my best friend, Aura."

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AN: i ship it

Greg and Aura are friendly neighborly neighbors. Her grandmother hates his grandparents and vice versa because war and stuff

also this cover is hella old and the title is ripped off from of mice and men wow


	3. Sister

AN: starting to wonder whether or not I should cameo enony in the next part

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Peeking out from in the shadows, Aurum witnessed a scene not for her ears. Her grandmother and elder brother were fighting. Over what she hadn't been previously privy, but now she began to saw the fuel of the flames between the two bursting and erupting into anger and hatred from deep within their souls. It was scary, and yet marvelous.

"You ignorant fool! Look at what you've done now! You've killed her bird!" their grandmother screeched, pointing to a dead bird. "I send you to Durmstrang for you to safely practice dark magic at school! I will not have you preform that kind any longer in this household!"

Argentum struggled to respond. He clenched his fists and cried. Aurum did the same, reacting to the death of her bird. The white-haired boy knelt down at the coffee table and picked up its small head. It was singed horribly. It almost appeared like a phoenix.

"I didn't mean to." Argentum wept, his back turned to Aurum, who, quite frankly, wanted to turn her back to his.

"I know you didn't; you meant to hit me. Now I will not have these outbursts, Argentum Rubel Creste. One more slip and you're going to a therapist. I mean it this time." their grandmother warned. "I'm going to get her a fish. It'll be protected in its bowl. You will be delivering the news."

In an instant, their grandmother was gone. She had apparated out of the house. Aurum would have that ability in five years, Argentum in three.

Argentum stamped his foot in rage and kicked the coffee table over, smashing the glass within it. Realizing he broke it, he turned back to the table and repaired it, whispering, "Reparo."

Aurum stepped out from behind the wall. She smiled weakly and stood in front of her seething brother.

"You don't need to deliver the news," Aurum said quietly.

"How long have you been standing there?" he asked slowly, already at the peak of his blood pressure rising.

"Heard the whole thing." Aurum admitted. "Dragon's not- he's not coming back, is he?"

"Of course not! He's ashes on the floor!" Argentum yelled. Then, realizing his mistake of lashing out onto his little sister, he knelt down and wrapped his arms around her.

"Why do you take your anger out on me?"

Argentum's eyes widened. He squinted, cringing from the tears slipping down his hot cheeks. "I'm sorry, but I love you," he said. "I just want the best for you. You need a shell. You're going to be hurt, and I'd rather it be me than some other man."

Aurum nodded as much as she could against her brother's chest.

"You don't think I'm a monster, do you?" she asked. "Werewolves are monsters."

"You're a monster, but you're a beautiful monster." Argentum answered as if stating the obvious. "If any man can't see that, they're not worth having."

"Stop talking like that." Aurum squirmed away from her brother. "I want my old angry brother back." she huffed. "Enough of this advice. You're not supposed to give me your advice. You can't even get a girlfriend anyway."

"Go to your room or I'll put the Cruciatus Curse on you!" he boomed, suddenly standing over her.

Aurum screamed playfully and ran off. Argentum stood solemnly in the living room, sighing over the destruction caused in just this very room.

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AN: same tbh

So some questions u might have I'll answer myself bc no one is reviewing

Q: wat is a quarterblood and y wouldn't it be half blood if it's squib plus muggleborn

A: quarterblood is when a squib or muggleborn reproduces with someone other than pureblood. Purists think that these two groups shouldn't be reproducing and think they're taking magic away from bloodlines so less magic less "blood"

Q: y your characters kno everybody

A: bc her parents and grandparents were in the Order of the Phoenix during the volsemort war thing

Q: where r her parents

A: ded

•-–—–-•

ok q&a over with. Hope u enjoyed. Pls leave sum revows


	4. New Friend

AN: finally! a long chapter

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"Why do I have to go?" Argentum groaned at the ceiling. "Diagon Alley is filled to the brim with weirdos."

His grandmother pulled and tugged at his bow tie, attempting to straighten it. She licked her palm and slicked his stark white hair back. She pinched his cheeks and patted him on the shoulder, departing as she said, "Because you're a horrible brother who needs to be there for his sister."

Argentum shrugged. He couldn't really argue with that. He turned to Aurum and awkwardly gave a toothy smile.

Aurum was dressed in her finest short-sleeved champagne dress with frills on the neck and ends. Between two frills, it had a beautiful gold oval encased in silver and surrounded by a pearl necklace.

"Well, lets go!" Aurum tugged on her brother's sleeve. She pulled for him to come with her to the fireplace as they were traveling by the floo network.

"If we're going to go, we're going to Knockturn first," Argentum said.

The two stepped into the large brick fireplace with Argentum holding the green powder known as floo. He threw it down, whispering, "Borgin and Burkes."

In an instant, they were teleported into a dark and dusty room. Aurum coughed loudly stepping out. The whole place was filled with mysterious and creepy artifacts which made her wish she stayed home. There were things like disembodied limbs, bones, spooky antiques, and horrible-looking furniture.

Argentum snatched Aurum's hand and led her through the scary store. She looked at everything, scared and intrigued at the same time. What made her stop her brother though, was another boy her age standing by a wardrobe.

Argentum turned sharply. "What's wrong with you?" he asked.

"There's a boy over there. He's my age, I think. Can you go handle your business and let me talk to him?" Aurum asked. Argentum nodded and she dashed off.

"Don't get an MTD!" Argentum called, but Aurum didn't hear.

The boy in question had platinum blond hair and icy grey eyes. He was tall and pale with a very slender, almost sickly build. But, his hair fell a certain way, and his eyes shone like the stars.

Aurum sidled towards the boy with a severed hand held in his palms. For a split second, she thought about how he would react to her. She was a quart-blood after all. Plus, she was a werewolf as she just found out. Well, it wouldn't be so bad if she just kept it to herself. So, she yelled out a hearty "Halloa" to him. His head whipped up towards her, away from the object of his attention.

"Hello. And you are?" he asked with a sense of being upper-crust. Aurum melted over his tone.

"My name's Aurum Creste, what's yours? I'm going to Hogwarts this year, are you?"

"Oh, a first year?"

"No, I wasn't allowed to go my first year because an accident happened on the train." Aurum admitted shyly.

"You must be a first year. I don't remember anything happening."

"Maybe you were obliviated. Gramma says aurors do it when bad things happen."

"Perhaps. What house do you belong to? I'm a Slytherin, and I don't associate with Gryffindors, by the way."

"Slytherin." Aurum replied, slightly bouncing. "So we'll definitely be seeing each other! If only I could just get your name," she said, sighing.

The boy extended his hand. Aurum took it. "Malfoy. Draco Malfoy. I'm shopping around for school supplies if you'd like to come with." Draco eyed the front desk. Aurum turned to it as well. Argentum was arguing with the shop owner. "It appears that my father is held up right now, I'm sure we could slip away."

"Oh! Okay! Let me just ask my brother if I can slip away too first!" Aurum excitedly exclaimed. Draco was taken aback, though she didn't know why.

With a skip in her step, Aurum bounded towards her brother. She tugged on his sleeve until he paid attention to her. When she asked if she could shop with her new friend, he nodded briefly and turned back to business. Draco's father looked at his son with a sly smile. Draco groaned and rolled his eyes.

Out of the door and towards Diagonal Alley they went, hand-in-hand because it wasn't safe to walk the streets separately. Use the buddy system, Ole Pearl Creste used to say. Draco wasn't reluctant, but he certainly wasn't expecting it.

"So how was your first year at Hogwarts?" Aurum asked. She thought it best to talk to her new friend about things he might be interested in. If he really was interested in her, he'd ask. She need not offer.

"Well, I was pretty popular. I got myself a girlfriend—"

Aurum audibly gasped. "At eleven! I'm not even allowed to date until I'm fourteen!"

"Yes, well, I was allowed. Anyway, it would have been perfect if not for one wizard."

"Who?"

Draco's grin flattened. "Harry Potter."

"Oh, I like him. He seems really cool. If it wasn't for him, Voldemort would still be around. Harry destroyed Voldemort." Aurum informed him. Draco stared at her. She wondered what for. It was true.

"So he did. Doesn't make him a good person. He was only a baby. It could have been any baby. It could have been Longbottom. I only wanted to make friends with him, but that idiot, Ronald Weasley, got to him first. Turned him into a right prat I think."

"You shouldn't say that about people."

"And why not?" Draco abruptly stopped walking to answer her question.

"How would you feel if someone called you that?" Aurum looked up at him innocently. "You should treat people the way you'd want to be treated."

"I don't care if anyone calls me anything." Draco rubbed his arm and began walking again. Aurum followed obediently. "Potter calls me rubbish names all the time."

"They shouldn't be calling you anything," Aurum said. She grabbed for his hand and he grabbed for hers. It was like magnets. "I won't let them."

"Thanks."

The two made their way to the bookstore for their school-ordered books. Aurum wanted to look around for some slice of life novels whilst there. The whole store was packed into one line, though. Crowds were there just to see a man named Gilderoy Lockhart. He was a famous adventurer and wrote based on his adventures.

"My gramma really likes his books." Aurum said as she passed.

"I don't particularly care for him. I'm a fan of Quipote. In Cold Castles is one of my favorites." Draco smiled, probably thinking of those books. "I want to write like him. I'm trying."

"I like to write as well. I'm more of a Leeds fan. To Kill a Unicorn is my favorite book of all time."

"Would you ever want to collaborate?" Draco asked, his grin growing wider.

"Of course! I'd love to!"

"Let's shake on it."

Draco held out his hand, but before Aurum could shake it, he seemed to have spotted something or someone. It was an ebony-haired boy with round spectacles.

"Is that—?" Aurum shrieked. She ran to the balcony and would've fallen over to look at the boy if not for Draco pulling her back.

"Harry Potter! I should've expected you to be here and on the day that I am!" Draco announced from the top of the stairs, gaining his attention along with a few others.

Slowly, Draco descended down the stairs, not taking his eyes off of Harry. He smirked at the bottom when they finally got face to face, but that intimacy was quickly interrupted when Aurum shoved her way through the two boys to talk to the bespectacled one.

"Hi! You're Harry Potter! Hi, Harry Potter!" Aurum giddily laughed at the fact that she was actually meeting Harry Potter! She couldn't believe it!

Harry blushed and looked away. "Hello," he said. "What's your name? You—you obviously know mine." he looked up at her with a shy grin.

"Aurum Tiffany Creste!" Aurum exclaimed. She pulled a fuming Draco towards her in front of Harry. "And this is my friend, Draco."

"Hello, Malfoy." Harry smirked, looking up and down at Draco's outfit consisting of khakis and a turtleneck.

"Potter." Draco grunted. He peered through slits at the group of gingers now surrounding Harry. "So you're with the Weasel's now, are you?" Specifically, he pinpointed a younger girl with straight red hair. "A new Weasel girl, huh? I could tell by the hand-me-down clothes and orange face."

"Leave her alone, Draco. Treat people how you want to be treated." Aurum pleaded. Draco huffed and turned away.

A boy her age held out his hand to Aurum who barely turned around to see him. You could barely see his freckles through his red face.

"I'm Ronald Weasley, by the way," he said. Aurum smiled and shook his hand.

"I already know you, Ron. Your mum is friends with my gramma. The Order, remember?" Aurum smiled.

"And I'm Hermione Granger," a bushy haired girl stepped between them. "Pleasure." she crossed her arms.

"Don't hang out with him and that sadistic Crabbe and idiot Goyle. Come with us." Harry smiled. He extended his hand, but Aurum took hers behind her back and walked towards Draco.

"I appreciate your concern, but if you really wanted to be my friend, you'd include Draco too." Aurum shook her head. Draco's face visibly lightened as she grabbed for his hand whilst saying this.

The two walked away when Draco's father came in and began talking to the man who seemed to be the Weasley father.

"You're so much nicer than I could ever hope to be, Creste." Draco admitted out of Harry's earshot. "I do have to give the Weasley's something; at least they're pureblooded."

Aurum nodded. Her heart seized when she realized she had forgotten that she was not pureblooded.

* * *

AN: this is never going to be revealed, so I might as well do it behind-the-secenes though it's kind of hinted. Aurum forgot to take the wolfsbane and got on the Hogwarts train. She transformed and scared the shit out of the youngins. So everybody was obliviated. This is why Draco has such an innate fear of werewolves.

also an MTD is a magically transmitted disease.

and my headcanon is that Draco is the second biggest book geek in hogwarts


	5. A Shoulder to Lean On

AN: Thanks so so much to worththerisks for beta-ing this story! She's helped me to expand a lot on this story and make it a lot better!

* * *

Quarter moonlight shone through the window installed in the train compartment. Its white beams touched Aurum's golden hair softly.

Her head fell lightly into Gregory's arms, and her body daintily rested in his lap. She looked up at his smile and retuned the expression. At least they hadn't passed out on each other like Draco and Vincent had.

"Wonder if Draco and I will stay friends. I mean, he's pureblooded, I'm quarter; he's normal, I'm a werewolf; and he likes apples, but I like oranges." Aurum rattled off their differences. Gregory chuckled at the last one.

"He is fond of his Granny Smiths." Gregory noted.

They were silent for a beat.

"I'm so tired of waiting to get there." Aurum relaxed her head back into the nook of Gregory's arms.

"Same, honestly," he said, looking out of the window. "I'm really glad you're here."

"I am too." Aurum yawned and stretched. "I can't wait to hang out after school. I brought my wolfsbane." she giggled. She stopped when she realized Gregory held a grimace. "Greg... I know I just told you about my disease but..."

"No, no. It's not that—I already knew anyway— I'm excited, but that's not what I'm thinking about." Gregory sighed. He had gotten Aurum's attention. "Draco and Vince are great and all," he looked over at the two sleeping on each other, "but they're elitist."

"Geez, Greg. I didn't know you had that kind of vocabulary." Aurum snickered.

"That's my point, Aura. They treat me like I'm a dumb ape who can't possibly even begin to understand their schemes and dialogue." Gregory tilted his head back on the wall. "To everyone else, I'm the dumber dummy following Malfoy."

"Why can't they see how witty and funny you can be like I can?" Aurum squinted.

"I know there's a lot of stereotyping with people having muggle blood, but there's a lot you haven't heard that you're going to hear at Hogwarts to deal with pureblooded families. Especially Slytherin ones. In fact, you might get these yourself. Others just assume all Slytherins are pureblooded. Most people—even some elite purebloods—think there's a lot of in-breeding to keep the bloodlines pure." Gregory began to choke up. He was biting back tears hard. "But it's not true. It might be true for some, but it's not true here."

Aurum turned over and hugged her friend. "I don't think you're dumb."

"Thanks. I just wish everyone else thought that." Gregory murmured.

"Woah!"

Aurum and Gregory rose up quickly as if a shot had been fired at them. Draco and Vincent were now snickering.

"Moving a little quickly, aren't you?" Malfoy laughed. "I'm not sure if he'd even know how to get it in."

Aurum brought her knees to her chin. Gregory blushed hotly and crossed his arms and legs.

"I'm excited for this year, aren't you?" Draco yawned to Vincent who yawned back in response.

"I'm not sure about this. Is it a good school, do you think? I rather liked Beauxbatons and I'm not sure if this will be better. I heard bad things happen here every year," Aurum said.

"Yes, well, there was a troll in the dungeon last year and Professor Quirell was working with the Dark Lord. Also I had to go into the Forbidden Forests with all the werewolves." Draco shuddered. "But we made it out alright as you can see. Strange and exciting things happen all the time even outside Hogwarts. My life would be rather boring like a slice of life novel without the school."

"Yes, I suppose so." Aurum nodded.

"Oh! This is like turning another page in a fairytale! This year is sure to be a page-turner like reading the Snow Queen all over again!" Draco gleamed to the brim with excitedness. "With you by my side especially, Creste. So glad to have you on board."

"Glad to be here, Draco."

* * *

AN: I ship it

so hard

but endgame is so confusing ahhh


	6. Potions Apprentice

AN: this was my fav chapter to write bc Snape is always great

* * *

The potionmaster scowled at what was brought before him. His greasy black hair that fell onto his shoulders suddenly whipped 'round, for his head had snapped to left in disgust.

"Unbelievable. You want wolfsbane but know nothing of its contents." he belittled. "I know I'm missing some potion ingredients like fluxweed and bicorn horn, but I know I still have wolfsbane."

Aurum tried her best to smile in the face of such discontent. She didn't want him to be disappointed in her, but that was all she got from him.

"I thought it was monkshood. We call it monkshood, Professor Snape." Aurum smiled at the branch which held lilac flowers.

Snape snatched the branch from her giving palms. He waved it in front of her face. "This is lilac! Monkshood is a violet color!"

"Sorry sir. I guess you could say I'm colorblind." Aurum sputtered with laughter. "Do you get it? Because I'm—"

"You are _not_ a dog! You are a _wolf_!" Snape boomed. Aurum shrunk in fear of his suddenly thunderous voice. She ran to fetch the plant he described.

Aurum came back with the right branch and he surrendered the stirring spoon to her. He carefully instructed her which way to stir and when to stop each go around. Gently, he informed her of when to whip and cream the potion until it was finally done.

"That should be good for a week's worth. Since you've already got another week's supply, this should give you a head-start." Snape murmured. He looked down at her with uncaring eyes. "I suppose you've got a knack for potion making. The mixing and chopping and all. I was surprised due to your ignorance of ingredients, but you somehow managed to pull it through. Though with my instruction I suppose I shouldn't be all that surprised."

"So you think I could brew potions like you?" Aurum grinned, happy with her small bit of praise. She had already grabbed a chalice and was now downing some of the potion she already had.

"No."

Aurum nodded, only a tad distraught and disappointed. She gave the chalice back to Snape.

"Now go before the full moon rises. I'd hate to have to fight off such a small wolf like you. I don't think it would hardly be fair for someone your size to fight me." Snape sneered.

The bouncing blonde left as she was dismissed. In the doorway coming in was Professor Lockhart whom she greeted cheerily on her way out. Down the halls she bounded and through each door she skipped, humming all the way.

"Hallo, Professor!" Aurum greeted McGonagall in the halls.

The Head of Gryffindor House was slightly startled by this sudden greeting. She turned around to greet the small, golden blonde Slytherin cheerily. Her mood was rather hesitant, seeming afraid of what might happen if Aurum was to turn then and there. Aurum sensed this and tried to put on her best smile.

"I'm really glad you're helping me, professor! How come it's you and not Professor Snape, though?" Aurum asked.

"I've had experience with past students of Gryffindor, so now Albus just puts me in place of helping young wizards and witches afflicted with lycanthropy. Of course, that was before wolfsbane was made. You have taken it, haven't you?" McGonagall asked warily. When Aurum nodded, she continued, "Yes, well, thank goodness. I'm getting too old for fending off against werewolf students."

"Did you have Remmy? I mean—Remus Lupin? Sorry, he's one of my gramma's friends so we just call him by a nickname." Aurum chuckled.

"Yes, I did help him. However, after his fifth year I believe it was—or maybe the fourth—was it the sixth? Oh dear, anyway... He began going out with his pack of friends, one of them being Mr. Potter's father. I still have no idea what they were doing. I worried so much about them. They turned out okay enough, I suppose." McGonagall attempted a warm smile.

There was a loud smack in the hallway adjacent to their corner. It sounded as if someone had tripped on their robes in haste.

"Go on and get to the Shrieking Shack. It's by the Whomping Willow." McGonagall instructed Aurum. The blonde ducked into a hole behind a statue of a knight. McGonagall pushed the statue back to its original position with a charm.

"Professor!" a pair silver eyes exclaimed as they came out of the dark and into torchlight, revealing themselves to belong to Draco Malfoy. "Where is she going? I thought it was past curfew."

"It is, and you should be going to bed," McGonagall said. "You don't wish to have detention, I assume?"

"Why doesn't she have defention too?" Draco demanded to know. "Isn't there a monster running around from the Chamber of Secrets?"

"Yes, well, I don't think it should bother her very much at all. It would probably melt as soon as it saw her smile."

"I want to know what she's doing. She's my friend, but she's been acting strange. Even Crabbe has noticed." Draco huffed.

"If she wanted you to know, she would have told you." McGonagall took out her wand and made Draco turn around swiftly. "Now off to bed with you." she pushed him towards the Slytherin Common Room.

* * *

AN: dun dun dun hes onto her

also Snape and Aurum's relationship is one I want to build on later because there's something that pertains to her life after Hogwarts that requires them to be on good terms


	7. Quarterblood

AN: I hope people have realized what Aurum means

if not—Aurum=gold in Latin. Draco=dragon in Latin. Dragons love gold! Just look at Smaug. He seems pretty happy.

* * *

"I can't wait to play quidditch! I've been dreaming of it since I was small!" Aurum tittered. "Especially a chaser! I did want to be a seeker, but I'm glad I got on the team."

"Really? I always knew I'd play. I bet I'll be the best seeker in all the United Kingdom by the time I'm a seventh year." Draco smirked, holding his broom to his chest defensively.

"You could very well be. Shame there were no spots for Greg or Vincent on the team. I know they'll cheer us on though," Aurum said. She had been hanging out with Draco more often now since Greg hung out with him. Rarely did she actually get to hold a conversation with him though. Draco didn't offer the time. She got the feeling he at least appreciated her company though due to how much he dogged the other boys in intelligence and eloquence levels.

"Yes, yes. If Goyle can find his way to the stadium without us, that is." Draco rolled his eyes.

"He's not blind, Draco. I'm sure he knows where everything is," Aurum said hotly. "He's smarter than our give him credit for."

"You're right, Creste. He may not be Dr. Jekyll, but he does have his wits about him. I think he'll be fine, then."

"Stop calling me 'Creste', I have a name you know."

"I do know, but I respect your honesty and loyalty so much so that I call you by your last name. It's only formal."

"I understand that, but I do prefer Aurum or Aura."

"Goyle calls you 'Aura', I wouldn't want to take that from him."

"Too special?"

"Yes," Draco said, stopping. "Perhaps Tiffany, then?" He resumed again.

Aurum blushed and shoved Draco. "No, no! That's so embarrassing!"

"Creste it is!" Draco howled with laughter, as did Aurum.

The group of quidditch players soon stopped. Another group approached draped in red and gold. Those were the colors of Gryffindor, their biggest rival. And lo and behold, there was Harry Potter with his friends by his side. Aurum blushed and his behind Draco who held his arm out defensively.

"Malfoy! You prat! What are you doing here?" Harry shouted, practically running towards the stationary blonde.

"I should ask the same of you. Slytherin has the field for practice today." Draco squinted.

"No, Gryffindor has it." Oliver Wood, the captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team announced loudly. He produced the Gryffindor schedule from his pants pocket.

"I'm afraid it must have been a typo because Slytherin has it, Wood." Marcus Flint, captain of the Slytherin quidditch team took the Slytherin schedule from beneath his robes.

As it appeared the schedules both had the same day, Marcus and Oliver made for dueling over it.

"What does it matter who gets to play? I think this is stupid." Hermione commented, crossing her arms.

"Who cares what you think? You filthy little mudblood." Draco sneered.

Hermione and Ronald gasped, extremely taken aback by Draco's language. Aurum took offense to it much more than they, however. She took her hand and slapped the blonde across the face with it. A pink palm was left on his cheek when she was done with him. He was shocked she had the nerve.

"You're my friend, Draco, but I don't appreciate you calling anybody anything that derogatory." Aurum growled, her eyes shining a peculiar yellow tinge.

"Why do you care? It's not like you're..." Draco's eyes widened and he put together the pieces. "You're a mudblood too, aren't you?"

"My father was a squib, and my mother was a muggle-born. Our blood makes no difference." Aurum shook her head. She knew Draco wouldn't have accepted this.

He drew out his wand and stepped away from her. "A dirtblood! You're a dirtblood! I can't believe you lied to me!"

"I never lied, I just never said anything! I didn't think it was important to you." Aurum felt herself tearing up.

"What else haven't you told me?" Draco asked.

"That's it. That's it, I swear!" Aurum cried.

"What were you doing out a week ago, then? In the middle of the night? Tell me, and I might forgive you."

"I'm not ready to tell you that yet." Aurum sobbed, knowing she couldn't patch this up. Now she would never see Greg again if she didn't see Draco.

"Then you're just a stupid, filthy, lying little dirtblood! I never want to see your stupid face again!" Draco screeched, running off in the opposite direction. "A fool! I've been made a fool!" he screamed behind him.

"What a drama queen, honestly." Ronald guffawed. Harry joined him.

Hermione walked over to Aurum who was still sobbing, having just lost friendships. The blonde knelt on the ground and the brunette hovered over her, seeing if there was a way to soothe her.

"Let's just go to Hagrid's and let Slytherin have their field." Ronald suggested to Hermione.

She nodded and turned her attention back to Aurum. "Would you like to come with us?"

Aurum brushed her hair out of wet eyes to look at the trio. Her brown eyes were immediately drawn to the boy she still had a crush on. She quickly looked away for fear of staring. Aurum silently agreed to the concept of going down to the gamekeeper's grounds.

Aurum wasn't surprised to see that he lived in a small cottage. She thought him to be a simple man and she was right. Inside it was very homey and cozy. Hagrid offered the quartet tea and cakes. She couldn't have asked for better at a time like this.

"Hagrid, I don't understand, what is a mudblood? Or a dirtblood. I knew they were bad words when Malfoy said them, but I'm not sure what they refer to." Harry admitted.

"Derogatory terms for muggle-borns and quarterbloods." Ron answered quickly, trying to sound smart.

Hagrid's mouth hung wide open. "He did not. Malfoy said tha'? I jus' can't believe he would have the gall to say tha'."

"Well he did." Hermione asserted. "He's horrible, that one."

"Draco has his moments when he strays from his gossip. We carry good conversations about various books and writings when he isn't ranting about you lot." Aurum corrected. "I sometimes wonder how you got off on the wrong foot, but I can never think to ask."

"He just got angry that I chose Ron over him. He was being an arse over it." Harry shrugged.

"And the Malfoy's have always hated the Weasley's. Even though the Malfoy's were Order spies, we never thought they were on our side." Ron explained. "They hate us so much that they made a word for those who side with muggles. They call us blood traitors."

"I'm very sorry about that." Aurum apologized for Draco. "I would have felt the same way as he though, if you had chosen Ron over me. I think you should always try to walk in someone else's shoes; it's very obvious he doesn't like Greg and Vincent. I like Vincent alright, but Greg has been my childhood friend for forever since we've been neighbors. He's been pushing away though lately because his parents followed the Dark Lord and mine were in the Order. I wish it wasn't so."

"We'll hang out with you." Harry began. "If you dump Draco and that lot."

"I can't. They're my friends. Draco will get over my blood type, you'll see," Aurum said. "Without someone 'intelligent' to hold a conversation with, he'll go crazy."

"He has that Pansy Parkinson. He'll be just fine without you," Hermione said as nicely as she could manage.

Aurum began chortling. The others thought it awkward and sat in silence. She looked around and soon stopped. "You really don't know anything about him, do you?"

"You've only known him for a month at the most." Hermione reasoned.

"Three, actually. It is October, isn't it? Well, Pansy isn't someone he's interested in. She's too clingy. They just broke up and he doesn't like talking to her. She just agrees with everything she says and titters over all his jokes. He prefers someone he can argue with and tell him right from wrong." Aurum informed them.

"I would have never guessed there'd be so much depth to that Malfoy kid." Hagrid commented.

"Maybe if you walked around in his shoes, you'd see," Aurum said to the trio. "He makes for quite the interesting fellow."

"So you don't care that he called you a dirtblood?" Ronald asked, furrowing his brow.

Aurum looked down at her cold half-drunken tea. "Oh yes, it did hurt. I know it's not him saying it though. His parents are very pureblood-centric. I see where he gets it. It may take me a while, months maybe, but I will win him back."

"Why do you want him back?" Harry grimaced.

Aurum blushed. "I like his company. He's very brash. I like having someone to correct and be the opposite to my positivity. Otherwise I think I would find him very boring. Everyday we have an exciting conflict. I'm afraid this one simply went too far if that all makes any sense to you."

The trio just blinked in confusion. Someone positive who wanted to hang around someone so negative? How odd. Perhaps opposites truly did attract.

"It's been nice," Aurum put down her teacup, "but I must be going. I have a meeting with Professor Snape."

* * *

AN: what we've learned today

-lord of the rings was wrong


	8. Traitor

AN: a month and you're still salty draco

* * *

"Psst, Aurum! Over here!"

The blonde turned her head towards the whisper. It was coming from the corridor which held the haunted girl's bathroom. Or so Gregory had said. Aurum hadn't done any actual investigation into it herself.

She followed the sound of the voice into the washroom that looked very abandoned. She began to wonder if the voice was a spirit coaxing her into a trap, but wondered no longer as she came across the faces of the trio of troublemakers known as Harry, Ronald, and Hermione.

"What are you guys doing?" Aurum asked, looking at the steaming pot in front of her. She peered deeply into it, even sticking her finger in it to taste. "There's some fluxweed in this. Professor Snape said he was missing some." Immediately, she became worried.

"I know we've stolen, but it's for a good cause," Ronald said, blushing embarrassedly to the point where his freckles were barely visible.

Hermione stirred as she said, "Personally, I'm not quite sure of this, but it never hurt to try."

Harry suddenly stood from his crouched position beside Hermione. He took Aurum's hands suddenly, making her blush as well, and there was no point in searching for her golden freckles because they weren't there either.

"We're going to investigate into the Chamber of Secrets. We need your help to see if it's Draco who's the Heir of Slytherin." Harry informed her as if it was a dire situation with dire consequences. She had no choice but to believe it was.

"I don't know if I can help you do that." Aurum mumbled uncomfortably. She solemnly hoped Harry would not remove his hands.

"Please, we just need one of your hairs. We got Millicent Bulstode's, but she's not nearly as close to him." Harry pleaded.

"I'm not either. We're still in a bit of a tizzy." Aurum corrected.

"Here's the deal," Hermione said as-a-matter-of-factly. "I won't take your hair and turn into you if you can protect Harry and Ron as they transform into Crabbe and Goyle. We've already stashed them somewhere."

Aurum gasped and immediately balled her hands at her sides. "What did you do with Gregory? You didn't kill him? I mean—what did you do with Gregory? _And Vincent_."

"Of course we didn't kill him. Just a simple sleeping potion." Ronald shrugged, tired of standing and now sitting beside Hermione.

"I'm thinking I don't want to do anything for you." Aurum growled. "I can't believe you'd have the audacity to assume that I would work for the people so against my friends! Do you think I'm a traitor?"

"If you help us, I promise I'll try to help you get back on the right side with Draco. I don't know how, but I will. That's a solid promise," Harry said with big, pleading green eyes.

Aurum pondered on it for a moment.

"Pinkie promise?"

Harry snickered and held out his pinkie. She took it and they had a deal.

"I'll wait outside for you all. Try not to be out of character." Aurum cringed as she walked out of the run-down bathroom.

Outside she had gotten so bored by the time thy finished that she had begun to count the bricks surrounding the doorway. She had forty-two at that point.

Striding out of the haunted bathroom came Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe, though who they were on the inside was a different story.

"What do you think? Pretty accurate, huh?" Gregory asked. "It's me, Harry."

Aurum giggled. "That's not how he talks. He'd never say he was Harry."

Harry shook his head, smirking, and motioned for Ronald as Vincent to come with him. Aurum walked beside Harry since she usually walked between Draco and Gregory when she got the chance.

As they got further down the Slytherin corridor, it got darker which somewhat disturbed Harry and Ronald who had never experienced this part of the castle. Being at the bottom of the lake, it was very damp too, which made them involuntarily shudder.

Then, surprising them most of all was Draco suddenly appearing behind the trio. He quickly scrambled to the front of Harry and Ronald.

"What are you doing with her? I've been looking for you two all over! Thought you could hang out without me? You're supposed to be my friends, not hers." Draco huffed.

Harry shot a look at Aurum who crossed her arms and looked down.

"I'll hang out with whomever I please, Malfoy," Harry said with bite.

"Well, why are you wearing glasses?" Draco asked.

Aurum's eyes widened. She hadn't even noticed. He just looked so good in them, why would she have pointed it out.

"We were studying in the library." Harry replied coolly.

"I didn't know you could read." Draco was stunned by the answer. "Well, I hope your little study date is over. We have to read the paper. I need to see what that fool, Dumbledore, has done now." Draco turned his back to lead.

Aurum pinpointed Harry's anger towards this and quickly put her hands over his mouth, knowing he was ready to explode.

"Gregory doesn't mind Dumbledore, but he wouldn't yell at Draco because he said something about him." Aurum whispered.

"Would Crabbe?" Ronald asked.

"No." Aurum shook her head with a furrowed brow as if it were obvious.

After a long walk in silence, they got to the portrait hole.

"Pureblood." Draco spoke the password.

The portrait lifted for the four to come into the commons area. Draco, Harry, and Ronald slipped in, but Aurum was pushed down by Draco.

"It said 'pureblood', Creste. I don't believe that includes you." Draco frowned at her.

Aurum's eyes shone yellow. "You can't keep doing this to me, Draco! I know you're dying without me to keep you company!" she growled.

Draco scoffed and rolled his eyes. He shut the portrait door on her with a slam. The lavish lady draped in green in the portrait looked back at the boy as much as she could being in a portrait. She was just as stunned as Aurum at the action.

"Listen sweetie, I may be a purist, but even I know a friend when I see one. He better get his mind on the tracks." the portrait lady opined. "Password?"

"Pureblood."

"That's what I like to hear!" she swung open for Aurum to go into the common room.

Once there in the room, she noticed that Draco was taking up her favorite spot on the leather couch with his lower body while Harry and Ronald were somehow sitting in the right seats.

"What are you still doing here?" Draco asked Aurum loudly and with a sneer.

"Leave her alone, Draco!" Vincent yelled. Aurum felt her heart jump. Force wasn't going to make Draco be her friend again. She knew that she couldn't stop their outrage though.

"No-one asked you, Crabbe!" Draco snapped.

Aurum knelt beside Harry on the floor since at this point there was no more available seating due to her usual being taken. She rested her head on the arm of his side of the couch. Why couldn't this day just end already.

"You still haven't given me an answer, Goyle. Who do you think is worse than Dumbledore?" Draco asked, folding his newspaper and raising up. Aurum smacked her forehand mentally. She couldn't believe he would comment anyway. It showed his loyalty at least, but it was nothing to say of his direction-following.

"Well, Harry Potter of course—" Harry paused to look at Aurum as did the other two boys. She had dashed to take up both hers and Draco's seat on the couch nearest the fireplace.

"Get off of my seat." Draco stomped his foot like a whiny brat.

"Make me." Aurum smiled devilishly.

"Aurum is a great person who you should get back together with, by the way." Harry suddenly said, probably only just then remembering his promise. He leaned and whispered to Aurum, "You guys are dating, right?" She shook her head no, but she was grateful for this awkward attempt anyway.

Draco ignored his comments promptly with a pout and a confused turn towards Harry. "As you were saying? You think Potter is the worst? Yes, I agree. He's certainly awful. Such fame and talent gone to waste on a horribly raised boy."

"I think he can be very nice when he wants to be." Aurum smiled to herself.

"I don't care what you think, Dirt—I don't care what you think, Creste." he corrected himself, showing a tad bit of humanity.

Aurum scrutinized Harry as soon as he smiled at her compliment. She soon noticed his scar was coming back. Her eyes grew and she pointed furiously at his forehead.

Harry stood quickly. "I have to go to the bathroom! I'll be back!" He ran off, dragging Ronald with him whose hair was turning red.

"Why are you taking Crabbe with you? You better not be making out in there without me!" he joked.

Aurum stood and dragged herself towards Draco. She hugged him around the waist since he was much taller than her. He was caught off guard judging by the way his hands shot up from their position on his waist. Tears began to well up in her eyes. "I'm so sorry."

Draco sighed. By his scant breathing she could tell he was starting to cry as well. "For what? You haven't done anything. This is my fault. I knew it was Potter and Weasley from the start. I knew because Gregory would have beat the living hell out of me for mouthing off about you like I did. I really missed you. It was unbearable without an intelligent conversation."

Aurum felt her heart leap. So that meant he hadn't been talking of her. Then, her heart fell, realizing she had committed the ultimate betrayal by working with the two.

"No, they wanted me to help them. They said if I did, they'd try to patch us up. Harry did try." Aurum told him. Now they were rocking to and fro with Draco's arms on hers.

"Well, I don't blame you for believing he could do it. What a Christmas this is."

"I know. I knew you weren't the Heir of Slytherin."

"The way I've been acting, I gave them every reason to believe."

"Let's just go find Greg and Vince." Aurum suggested.

The two went off to find their friends.

* * *

AN: tfw u collapse on your friend and start bawling after a fight.

Also, updates might become irregular because school is starting back for me


	9. Love Interest

AN: i actually forgot that I hadn't updated today. I thought 8 was today's chapter lol

* * *

"I told you not to go out in the December cold without your robes." Aurum deadpanned.

Draco rose to give a hearty cough and laid back down gently. He turned onto his side, away from Aurum, Gregory, and Vincent.

"I feel like Macbeth on his last leg." Draco moaned.

"You don't have to be such a drama queen about it," Aurum said.

"Yeah, calm down, Malfoy, you'll be fine." Vincent added.

Aurum quickly turned her head to watch her crush, Harry Potter, walk out of the infirmary with his staring friend. He had been visiting Hermione who was recently frozen by the monster of the Chamber of Secrets.

"Harry is so dreamy." Aurum sighed, faint pink growing in her cheeks.

"In what way?" Gregory demanded to know.

"Well, he's so brave and heroic. And what's not to like about a man who's at least taller than me, dark, and handsome?" Aurum tittered.

"If you become his girlfriend, we can't be friends anymore." Draco quickly said. It sounded like his words were all one.

"And why not?"

"He's the Ralph to my Jack Merridew. I can't have my tribe surrendering to his side. It should be the opposite. Everyone knows I'm cooler than him." Draco explained.

"That's true. If it wasn't, I suppose I'd be hanging out with him. Where would you be without me though? Probably sick in bed longer because without me, you'd have probably jumped in the lake." Aurum noted.

"I was just proving my manhood to Potter." Draco crossed his arms. He coughed loudly.

"If you wanted to do that, you could've just had a duel in a deserted hallway. There's no way Potter would have won," Gregory said.

"Or maybe not, he might send his snake army after you." Vincent added.

Interrupting the three's bout of laughter was the nurse, Madam Pomfrey. She told Draco to raise up else he may aspirate.

"Ms. Creste," Madam Pomfrey addressed her, making her head snap up, "I need you to hurry down to Hagrid's and fetch me a dozen eggs for breakfast. I sent Ms. Ginevra Weasley and she hasn't yet returned."

Aurum nodded, her mission fully understood. She quickly departed for the gamekeeper's cottage.

Once there, she knocked on Hagrid's door lightly, unsure if he was sleeping. If that were the case, she didn't wish to disturb him, or anybody for that matter.

"Hallo there, Aurum? What brings you here?" Hagrid answered the door jovially.

"I've come to fetch some eggs for Madam Pomfrey. Have you gotten any from your hens in the back?"

"Yeh, I believe I do. Ron's sister came down a bit ago though. I'm not entirely sure if she got anythin' or not." Hagrid scratched his head. "Well, I hope ye find what yer lookin' fer."

Aurum skipped and hopped towards the chicken coop. Once she was in the vicinity, she heard endless squawking and crowing. It sounded like the chickens were in some kind of horrible pain. She rushed towards the front of the coop.

Ginny Weasley came out of the coop, a bloodied wand and clothes on hand. She sent a devilish smile Aurum's way. The setting sun left her silhouette completely in the dark, making for a creepy entrance.

"Hello there...?"

"Aurum Creste. You know me. We're the founders of the Harry Potter fan club." Aurum pressed her lips together. Something wasn't right. She couldn't tell Hagrid about this. He'd never believe her.

"Right, right, Aurum... Listen, you can't tell anyone about this meeting if you want to keep your head on your shoulders." Ginny smirked.

The redhead walked away with the stride of a businessman. She fixed her red and gold tie and slightly shoved Aurum on her way back to the castle.

Aurum had no choice but to stare at the girl who she shared, yes, a sort of rivalry, but a sort of friendship as well being in the fan club. She wondered if it would have been the same if she were Neville who was only in the club for the admiration of Harry rather than an outright crush. Or so he said.

She shook her head and tried to clear it of what had just happened and focused on getting the eggs. Inside the chicken coop which was smaller than she expected given Hagrid's almost giant height and wide berth. The coop was also stained with blood in every corner. It made Aurum so sick that she had to throw up right outside the coop onto the ground. It wasn't flattering, but what else could she have done?

Without a moment's hesitation, Aurum picked up a dead chicken and grabbed the egg beneath it, putting it into the basket Pomfrey had given her. She didn't want to think about her actions, so she did them as quickly as possible. At the end, she had recovered twelve eggs. That was all there was anyway.

Before she got off the gamekeeper's grounds, she threw up again, the smell of blood still lingering. Her heart ached when she thought about the hens and what Ginny must have put them through. She just didn't understand why. It wasn't like she was a werewolf who couldn't control herself. Even then, werewolves were friendlier towards animal than a human being could ever be. Perhaps that's why Aurum felt such passion for the death of the chickens.

On her way back to the castle, a fluffy yellow chick emerged from one of the eggs. Aurum put her basket down and cradled the chick. She decided to name it Dragon, after her dearly departed owl and carried it in her hand to Hogwarts. Surely, Hagrid wouldn't mind.

Back in the infirmary, Aurum sadly handed the eleven eggs to Madam Pomfrey whom she thought might be disappointed. The nurse waved away her suspicions, telling her that Ginny had gotten a dozen eggs for her anyway. Aurum didn't question this as she was simply happy to be out of punishment for one less egg.

Aurum took her seat next to Gregory who was sleeping on Vincent who was sleeping on him.

"Is that a chicken in your hands?" Draco asked with a yawn. He was nodding off too.

"Yes, I'm naming him Dragon. I used to have an owl named Dragon." Aurum grinned ear to ear at the prospect of this new pet.

"My name means dragon in Latin. Or so my mother told me. Our whole side of the family is named after constellations. It's a tradition." Draco smiled.

Aurum thought for a second. "So if we got married and had kids—"

"I thought you wanted Potter's?"

"I'm just thinking out loud, Draco. But yes, I do. If we had children, I'd like to name one Scorpius. After the constellation. That's my star sign," Aurum said.

"You didn't have to tell me that, I know your birthday's the twenty-fourth of October. We had a huge party for you. Course, I don't think I or the rest of the Slytherins would've done it considering your blood if they had known at the time." Draco groaned.

He gave out a sudden grunt of anger. He pulled his pillow out and buried his head in it.

"I just don't get it!" he screamed, muffled into the pillow.

"What?"

He removed his head from the muffler. "I don't understand why parents have such a problem with blood! It's not like we're vampires or something. I was only going along with my father over strictly hanging out with purebloods, but you're a better friend than anyone I've ever known."

Aurum turned a shade of pink. "Stop it, you're making me blush." she giggled.

"I'm serious, Creste. I really like you. More than anybody. Crabbe and Goyle are nice too, but before you came along, our real conversations were few and far in-between." Draco pouted. "I'm just glad you're here and that we have no more secrets." he smiled warmly at her.

"I am too." Aurum put her hand on Draco's. She did have one secret. She took her hand back rather fast when she realized this, alarming him. "I forgot, you're sick." she excused herself.

"Right, well, I better be off to sleep. It's getting to be ten o' clock. I need my beauty rest."

"Alright, Princess Aurora. Off to bed with you, then." Aurum mimicked Madam Pomfrey's haughty tone. She tapped on Gregory's shoulder, nodding for the three of them to head to their common room.

* * *

AN: endgame is so confusing

also Ginny and Aurum are the heads of the HPFC who really don't care who gets with him, they just want each other to be happy

and want to see if they can talk Harry into a threeway marriage


	10. Dangerous

AN: I gotta feeling that this chapter is gonna be a feels trip

* * *

"This is your worst idea yet." Snape drawled.

"I just want to test it. Besides, it's not like anyone'll be in danger." Aurum shrugged.

"You might hurt yourself."

"I know, but I think it would be a cool thing if I found out that having pets near you as you turn, you won't harm anything; even yourself."

"You could be expelled if anything is to happen. Even to yourself," Snape said.

"I think I'll be fine, Professor, but thank you for your concern. I'll just be going now. Wouldn't want anything to happen on the way there." Aurum smiled.

Walking through the corridor with her chick who was found to be a rooster as it was growing a large ruby crest, Dragon, Aurum did worry over whether or not anything would happen. She tried to convince herself that everything would be aright and she would make a new breakthrough in lycanthropy.

Professor McGonagall was at the back door to greet her. Her jovial expression turned to confusion when she saw Aurum's chicken.

"Ms. Creste, I'm unsure if I should question this." McGonagall muttered.

"It's okay, Professor! This is just my pet chicken."

McGonagall was silent. "I see that," she said. After staring at the girl and giving an awkward cough. "Be careful, Ms. Creste, I believe someone has been trying to follow you for the past months."

"Okay, Professor. I'll be sure to be on the lookout."

The professor hurried Aurum out of the castle and the blonde was on her way.

The full moon was rising in the cloudy April sky. The grass was wet with fresh rain and hushed the steps of any passersby. Aurum's chicken clucked noisily, easily revealing her position to any potential followers. Though, she didn't think anyone would want to follow here. There was no purpose in it. She was only a girl diagnosed with Lycanthropy.

The Whomping Willow towered over the blonde, rocking back and forth. Aurum drew out her wand, saying, "Leviosa," and drew up a rock to press against a specific branch on the tree. It stopped its motion, allowing her to get closer.

Beneath the roots was a small hole which Aurum threw her chicken into. It clucked madly and scampered further in. She followed suit until she caught up with the bird and held it in her arms once more. She crouched down deeper into the hole until she found the door and went through it.

Inside held a house. It was small and it was labeled the Shrieking Shack. It was used for students burdened with Lycanthropy, and was absolutely not haunted as it was rumored. The house had a kitchen, a living room, a couple bathrooms, and a couple bedrooms. It was home away from Hogwarts for her. Sometimes she skipped school in here, admittedly feigning a bout of Howling Syndrome or Furniture Scratching. The house was her perfect getaway.

Up the stairs, Aurum laid her chicken down on the bed in the room she claimed. The room was very broken and rundown. There was a barely functioning piano, a four-poster bed, a large stand-up mirror, and a wardrobe. The most peculiar object was a picture frame of four people, one of whom looked like Harry except for the eyes.

A door slamming alarmed Aurum. Her heart froze and it felt as if it was in her throat. She could hear it beating in her ears. Her pale face grew even whiter as she realized the meaning of the sound. Tiptoeing in her flat heels, she made her way to the top of the stairs where her heart was taken out and shattered.

"What are you doing here?" Aurum screamed, having a complete meltdown. Her whole educational Hogwarts relied on her being alone. Now she was regretting not telling anybody.

"I knew you were hiding something!" Draco screeched, tears streaming down his red face. "Why do you keep lying to me?"

"I'm not lying! I'm just trying to protect you!"

"From what?" Draco yelled.

"From me." Aurum answered. "Please... just leave."

"No! I want answers! Why do you have to protect me from yourself? Why did you tell Goyle and not me? I don't understand."

"Just go! I can't have anything happen to you!"

"It's you isn't it!" he pointed at her accusingly. "You're the Heir of Slytherin! That's why you've been sneaking around! That's why you've been so secretive! You want to kill off mud—muggle-borns because you want to take the suspicion off yourself! I bet you were going to go after me!"

All Aurum could squeak out was "No, no, no..." as she sobbed as a ball on the floor. Her heart was torn into pieces and scattered across the floor. She opened her eyes to the realization that the moonlight was shining through the curtains on the floor. She rose involuntary.

"Go! Now!" she croaked, fighting against the inward growling. She slammed against the window and forcefully ripped the curtains off their hangers. The full moon bathed her in its light.

Draco cursed under his breath seeing his mistake. He ran up the stairs. "I'm sorry, I didn't understand."

Aurum suddenly whipped around, halfway through her wolfy transformation. She pushed him down the stairs.

"I told you to leave!" she slipped into a howl as her transformation completed and she became a werewolf.

Draco massaged his bleeding leg. He obviously hit something on his fall down. He looked up at the wolf closing in on him. It had a shorter muzzle and a tufted tail. The wolf also had Aurum's brown eyes that twinkled yellow.

Before it could leap upon him, he scrambled for the door behind him and opened it, slamming it on the wolf. He limped back towards the castle.

* * *

AN: he was a boi she was a wolf

can I make it anymore obvious


	11. Secretive

AN: this is the end, my fren

* * *

He stood in the rain waiting for her. The droplets bounced off of his silvery blonde, slick hair. His friends stayed behind in the castle on that Saturday morning. Defiantly, he remained in place for what was about half an hour sticking out the weather for the girl he had just watched a horrible transformation of the previous night. He shouldn't have returned, but he wanted to talk.

The golden blonde he had awaited slipped out from the roots of the Whomping Willow with a chick in her hands. She froze, surprised by the sight.

He wasn't as brave as he thought, confronting what he now knew to be a werewolf, so he ran off, leaving the girl distraught. She chased after him, not thinking of such implications. She desired to know what possessed him to wait on her to approach him that made him now run away.

"Draco!" she screamed through the halls of the castle they now entered.

He looked over his shoulder at her and turned a corner. She would have followed, had she not slipped on a puddle they had created jointly. Holding her chick above her head, she had faceplanted.

When she arose, she found the cerulean eyes of Ginny Weasley watching her chicken intently. The blonde shielded her chick in her bosom, remembering what the redhead had done to its mother.

"Aurum. How nice to see you again." Ginny greeted with an egregious smile. She pointed at Aurum's chick. "Planning on keeping that?"

"Listen, if this is about Harry, I just want you to know you can have him." Aurum assured her. "I didn't tell anybody about our meeting."

"You're such a loyal Slytherin. You should have been a Hufflepuff. Maybe then you wouldn't have utterly disgraced the name of Salazar Slytherin with your filthy muggle blood." Ginny pouted insincerely.

"Wait a minute... Who are you?" Aurum cocked her head to one side and squinted, finally putting the pieces together.

"Someone who you don't want to mess with," Ginny said, looking down. At the same time, Aurum heard a hissing behind herself.

Aurum looked down as well, and anticipating the worst, saw that the puddle below reflected bright yellow eyes that almost felt as if they were daggers in her skull. That was all she remembered.

When she awoke, it was pure white, her vision. It took a couple of blinks, but her sight came back to her and she was able to brush the golden strands of hair from her eyes. Her cheek felt warm, so she massaged it.

Looking around, she found Vincent sitting nodding off beside her bed and Gregory leaning away from her. She smiled at her company.

"Where am I?" she asked Gregory. "What happened to my chicken?"

"The infirmary. Dragon was back with Draco last I heard. I don't know where either of them are right now." Gregory informed her.

"What's happened?" she asked next. She had breathed a sigh of relief for her chicken.

"After you were chasing Draco, he said he hid behind a wall, watching you talk to the Weasley girl. He knew something was wrong when you became petrified so he grabbed your rooster and tried to find her brother. The male Weasley got Potter and they took your rooster to fight off the basilisk that's apparently been hiding under the bathrooms." Gregory explained. "Your rooster saved the day. I think. There was something about a phoenix in there too. Also a sword. So maybe not your rooster, sorry."

"I don't care as long as everyone's okay." Aurum shrugged with a grin. "Is Ginny okay? We have a meeting tomorrow."

"She's fine, it turns out she was possessed by You-Know-Who or something. That's according to Potter. But, Aurum, you've been petrified for a week and a half. School's getting let out next week." Gregory laughed. He quickly stopped, worried Aurum wouldn't chuckle as well. She did, and he continued laughing again.

"I can't believe it! I've missed you guys so much!" Aurum wrapped her arms around Gregory, dragging him towards the bed. She let him go. "Where's Draco?"

Speak of the devil. As Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley walked past her bed to visit Hermione Granger, Draco followed closely and stopped at Aurum's bed with Dragon in his arms and a pout on his face.

"It has been a miserable week, I'll have you know." Draco grimaced. "If you just told me about your stupid werewolf-ism, I wouldn't have cared."

"Draco, I know you would have been scared." Aurum stared wide-eyed, not believing him.

"No, I wouldn't have been because you're you. And you wouldn't hurt a fly. So stop trying to keep secrets from me." Draco demanded with a stomp of his foot.

Aurum looked down and smiled weakly. "I don't have any more to keep." she clasped her hands. "I promise."

Draco walked around to the side of her bed and released her rooster to her. The chicken's beautiful ruby crest had now fully formed. Aurum hugged Dragon and beamed up at Draco.

"Is this the part where we kiss and make up?" Aurum asked cheekily. She snickered at her own joke, but Draco crossed his arms and looked away with a "harrumph".

"I think Greg's got that base covered." Vincent roared with laughter. Gregory's face turned scarlet and he ducked away from Draco's laughter and Aurum's chuckling.

"At least we're all here. And there's nothing to split us up." Aurum sighed.

No more secrets, she decided.

* * *

AN: I'm going to be continuing with Prisoner of Azkaban. Just note that it'll be a while before it will come out because I prefer to write in advance so I have more drive to release a chapter.

also, I'll save questions for next chapter ;)

i wanted to make some ship names bc Disney is great and it hints towards some events! I won't be spoiling them or saying which is canon tho :3

-Draco/Aurum: PrincessFrogShipping

-Harry/Aurum: CinderellaShipping

-Ron/Aurum: SleepingBeautyShipping

-Gregory/Aurum: SnowWhiteShipping

-Vincent/Aurum: MermaidShipping

happy shipping!


	12. Bus Rider

AN: Now we're into the Prisoners of Azkaban part! Hopefully it's as good as the last!

* * *

A black-haired boy steadily made his way on the moving bus towards the first empty bed on it. Peculiar how it had beds instead of seats. The bus' arrival was odd as well. It was almost as if someone summoned it for him.

Out of the corner of his eyes, there was a bed which looked to hold two people. It was rather weird, but he didn't question it until it's inhabitants leaped out at him from under the sheets.

"Potter!", "Dear future husband!" the two voices greeted him.

"You gave me a heart attack. What's wrong with you?" Harry breathed in and out slowly.

"We were on our way to Draco's house from mine—we had a sleepover," Aurum began, and Draco nodded. "and we saw you walking with a suitcase so we told Stan to stop."

"Well, where are your parents, Aurum?" Harry asked.

"Where are yours, you twat? You don't just ask where people's parents are." Draco scoffed, crossing his arms and legs. He and Aurum were leaning on each other.

"It's not important, but my parents died in the Order." Aurum shrugged with a smile, hoping Harry didn't take too much offense to Draco's rebuttal.

"Sorry." Harry apologized quickly. "So you're just out and about on your own?"

"Aren't you?" Aurum asked. "Besides, I'm almost fourteen and Draco's thirteen. We're practically adults."

"At least we took the bus. You were dumb enough to be walking out on the streets. That's how people get MTD's." Draco sneered.

Stan Shunpike, the conductor of the Knight Bus came around the corner.

"Need anythin'? 'ot chocolate? Popcorn? Toothpaste? Newspaper? It'll all cost ya money so don't get yer knickers in a twist if I charge ya." Stan exposited.

"We're good." Harry answered with an awkward pause after looking between the two.

"How dare you? I'll have you know I actually do require a cup of 'ot chocolate," Draco said, trying to embarrass Harry to the best of his ability and mocking Stan's accent.

"I would like the paper." Aurum sheepishly admitted, embarrassed for her friend.

"Awright then, tha's one 'ot chocolate and one paper comin' up." Stan went back to the front of the bus.

Once the objects were delivered, there was some silence between the three. Harry was thinking of what he had just done, Aurum was reading, and Draco was peering around the bus nosily, sneering at whatever he disliked.

"Hey, Harry, have you heard about Sirius Black? Whole muggle world's going mad about him." Aurum pointed at the paper.

"I've seen him on television. He's a mass murderer isn't he?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, killed a member of the Order, too. I can't believe I'm even remotely related to him." Draco added after a sip of his hot chocolate.

Aurum looked above her paper and saw the London Bridge flash by. They were near their stop.

"We're almost to yours." Aurum informed Draco. She turned to Harry. "Hey, why were you running anyway?"

"I blew up my aunt." Harry answered nonchalantly.

"Oh." Aurum grimaced behind her paper.

The bus suddenly jerked to a stop, throwing Draco's hot drink into Aurum's paper and mixing it into a mess on the floor under the bed next to them. The two looked at each other with wide eyes. Hopefully, no one would notice.

"You didn't see anything." Draco told Harry with a dead serious look in his grey eyes.

"We should probably go before anything else happens. Greg and Vince are waiting," Aurum said.

* * *

AN: Cinderellashipping is strong in this one


	13. Waffle Cooker Extroardinaire

AN: tfw your friends are quoting Avril Lavigne as reasons you should get with a guy

* * *

Whistling while she worked, Aurum Creste stirred the waffle mix. Dawn shone down on her golden locks and illuminated her smile. Perhaps that was what drew Gregory Goyle towards her. They met at the counter beside the breakfast nook.

"You know, if you just let Mrs. Malfoy do all that and some magic, it'd be a little faster." he chuckled. Aurum rolled her eyes and bit her lip at him.

"This is just for us. Draco's parents are out. I'm not waiting around." Aurum touched Gregory's nose with the spoon playfully.

"You're not right." Gregory snickered, shaking his head. He briefly wiped the waffle mix off his nose that her spoon had left.

Draco and Vincent strode into the large kitchen, talking of something vulgar it seemed for as soon as they spotted Aurum, they quickly hushed. Or maybe they quieted to comment on the affairs of she and Gregory.

"Enjoying your alone time? We can leave." Vincent turned around, making like he was leaving. He and Draco laughed.

"Just because I'm a girl and he's a boy, we have to be a couple?" Aurum asked rhetorically, flashing a smile at Draco from the side. She set her bowl on the counter and grabbed the waffle-maker. "So how do you like your waffles?"

"With a dollop of sunshine, but I think you might douse it." Draco raised his eyebrows as he sat on the table. Aurum curled her lip at the action.

"I need to start tuning you all out." Aurum poured the mix into the waffle-maker. "I can't believe you don't have one of these. Can't believe I had to bring mine."

"We're not exactly muggles. We use magic," Draco said the obvious.

"What about when your parents aren't here?" Aurum asked.

"We don't." Vincent laughed. "But when we turn seventeen, we will."

"No sh—" Aurum caught herself, pressing the waffle-maker closed.

The other three stared at her, wide-eyed. Draco and Vincent's mouths hung open.

"Were you just about to curse?" Draco asked with a smirk.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, and if you don't want a burnt waffle you'll discuss it no further." Aurum gave a side-glare at the blonde as she removed a waffle from the mini-machine.

"Y'know, I don't have a problem with cursing. I once cursed out a man twice my size and got him to back off." Vincent took a seat at the table behind Draco.

"I hope that wasn't a teacher," Gregory said.

"It was. Quirell, if you remember. I got detention though. It was well worth it since he was trying to convince me not to throw a paper ball at Potter." Vincent clasped his hands.

"You guys have such a death wish on that boy. I can't even possibly begin to understand. Perhaps if you weren't so blood-centric," Aurum said.

"We aren't now." Draco gestured to himself and Vincent. "It's too late, though, I suppose." he shook his head regretfully.

"Well, it's not too late for waffles because they're all done." Aurum announced, holding up a plate of four waffles.

* * *

AN: tfw polyfriendshipping

but also snowwhiteshipping

but also all the gay ships

but why did I make everyone so shippable


	14. Savior of Muggles

AN: ohno. It's a long one about feels

* * *

Two thirteen year olds walked down the street, suitcases in their hands. Summer sunlight fortunately shined down upon them, and for once it seemed they would get some time together without the comments of others.

Aurum smiled at the ground as her much taller friend made a witty remark about the affairs of the Malfoy's and how they flaunted their prosperity. "With friends like him, I don't know why you even bother with me," she said grimly.

Gregory stopped and looked down at her with shock. "Because you're my best friend. It's been that way since we could walk." He nodded towards a sign and they began walking again.

"What had possessed you climb over our fence and into gramma's lilies?" Aurum snickered at the memory. It was only about nine years ago when a small and scraggly pureblood had somehow jumped their eight foot fence. Aurum's grandmother had said it could only have been an outburst of random magic, but it worked out in their favors. Now they were as good friends as any. That was to say nothing of their guardians, however.

"I just wanted to see what was behind the fence, I dunno. I was like four or five." Gregory shrugged eccentrically, snickering as he looked at his friend.

"How did we get here?" Aurum asked dreamily, pulling herself towards Gregory's waist. Initiated by Aurum, the two wrapped their arms around each other and walked, teetering as they did so.

"I ask myself that a lot," Gregory said absent-mindedly. "My parents wanted nothing to do with your gram. They were trying to get me to be friends with the likes of Malfoy, Crabbe, Zabini, Nott, you name it. Anything to drive me from you. I stayed though. No one ever treated me like you did. They were all proper, prissy, and selfish. Malfoy and Crabbe are tolerable comparably."

"Well, I'm glad we're where we are now." Aurum sighed, looking up at Gregory. "I don't know what I'd do without you." she began to tear up.

"Don't imagine that, Aura. You're going to make yourself have a panic attack doing that." he picked her up bridal style despite her protests and fits of laughter. They spun around and he continued walking.

Aurum spotted the stop sign that her brother had used magic to turn blue. She nodded for Gregory to put her down.

"This is it." Aurum sighed. She tried to regain a true smile. "I'll see you tomorrow!" she waved after him.

"Goodbye, Aura!" Gregory waved as he left for the house next door.

Aurum took one step inside her house before she heard Fur Elise being played by their automatic organ. It read and played whatever sheet music it was given. Her grandmother wasn't home for she was at a book club meeting, but her brother always was and Aurum wasn't very excited to see what he was doing.

From the foyer, Aurum walked into the living room. Their organ sat playing in the corner opposite her, but her brother was nowhere to be found. The music could be heard from wherever in the house, so she looked in his room, and then her room, then finally, her grandmother's.

"Argen, if I've told you once, I've told you a million times—" Aurum hushed. He wasn't there.

Aurum searched every room, every bathroom, every bedroom, every piece of furniture, every doorway, the back and front yard, but he wasn't there.

The blonde rushed out of the door and knocked hurriedly on Gregory's. She tried to breathe in and breath out but was gasping so hard from the panic, she found this was something she was unable to do. When Gregory nor his parents answered within the first few seconds, she banged on the door again.

Finally, when Gregory did open the door, Aurum jumped back in shock, he had opened it so quickly. He looked just as worried as Aurum after seeing her face.

"What's wrong, Aura?" he asked, going to hold her to calm her down. She shied from his touch and instead held herself.

"I don't know where Argentum is. I'm really worried sick. He never goes anywhere." Aurum cried.

"I'll help you find him, let's go." Gregory took her hand in his.

"You should probably tell your parents." Aurum mumbled.

"They don't care where I am as long as I'm not at your house. Not that that's ever stopped me." Gregory scoffed. "They're not home, anyway. So it's the perfect time to slip out."

The duo walked up and down Cambridge Avenue in their search for Aurum's brother. They decided to check their local park first. If he wasn't there, perhaps the pool of tennis courts, he had an affinity for both.

Aurum and Gregory's panicked faces soon turned to horror as they witnessed three hooded figures torturing a couple of muggles with the Cruciatus Curse. The witch and wizard decided to hide behind a tree in order to figure out what to do.

"Oh Merlin, we can't just let them keep doing that. They could torture them into insanity like the Longbottom's." Aurum panicked.

"I didn't know that was possible. Either way, we should probably put an end to it." Gregory agreed. "But how? We may not be able to use magic since we're underage. We'd risk expulsion."

"Wait a minute! Harry blew up his aunt—"

"He did what?"

"—so we should be able to use at least one spell." Aurum grinned, happy she could find a way to help. "But what spell?"

"Should we curse them in return?" Gregory asked.

"No, of course not. Maybe leviosa or augamente." Aurum suggested.

"Oh! We should freeze them! With immobulus." Gregory suggested. Aurum nodded, agreeing with this judgment.

They ran out from behind the tree and pointed their wands at the trio of cloaked wizards. "Immobulus!" Aurum and Gregory shouted. Suddenly, the hooded all froze. Their magic was stopped, however and the muggles were free to go.

"Let's see who these people are so we can report them to the ministry." Aurum strutted towards them.

"I'm sure the ministry will know." Gregory shrugged.

"No, some people get exported wands so they don't have to answer to our government, but the wand's. They're very lenient in Norway." Aurum informed him.

She flipped the hood off of the smallest figure though they were all taller than her. She recognized it as Gregory's mother. Aurum bit her lip and looked down at the grass beneath her, biting back tears. "I don't want to know who else did this," she said, taking their wands from their hands and sticking them in the ground in the case that the spells fired up again.

Gregory flipped the hoods off of the other two. It was his father and Argentum. He swallowed hard and looked at a very disappointed Aurum for what seemed like forever. "We need to go," he finally said.

By the time they got back to their houses, it had began to rain. They walked in puddles, not caring about anything or anyone but each other at that moment.

"We couldn't have known." Gregory sighed. He looked dimly at Aurum. "We just couldn't. It doesn't reflect on us."

"I just wish we could have stopped them before it even happened. I don't know why Argentum would attempt such dark magic knowing gramma doesn't like it. And why on a muggle? It's too cruel for even him." Aurum cried.

"Maybe he always had this in him," Gregory said.

Aurum whipped around on him. "Don't tell me that! I know it's not true. He wouldn't do this."

"Aura, you're going to have to accept that you're not always going to be able to find good things deep inside people. I've had to deal with it and you have too. The difference is, you won't accept it!"

"Stop this raving! You don't know what you're talking about! My brother doesn't have the spine!"

"Aurum Tiffany Creste, I know what I saw!" Gregory roared, pointing back towards the park. "What I saw were my parents and your brother torturing two muggles!"

Aurum shrunk beneath his booming voice. When Gregory realized how he had messed up, it was too late. She blinked out a couple of tears and ran from him back to her house. He decided not to follow and took the long way around.

* * *

AN: well that was unfortunate

I mean, it's kind of hard to be shocked when your parents are death eaters and u kno this

Oand idk if that's how the wand thing works, it just makes sense to me.


	15. Frenemy

AN: back to short chapters!

* * *

Aurum stuffed her suitcase into the container above the seating. She put her sleeping hen, Dragon, beside her. She placed her hands on her hips and sat down, awaiting the rest of the Slytherin quartet.

The door slid open to reveal Draco Malfoy and his obnoxiously slick silvery blonde hair. He flashed a smile at her before putting up his luggage.

"How goes it, Creste?" he asked formally.

"I'm doing well," Aurum said curtly. "I talked to Remmy in the compartment just behind us. He was happy to see me."

"That's good. I have no idea who you're talking about, but you sound like you're on good terms." Draco shrugged.

"Yes, well, it's better than Gregory and I. We've been having a bout since after your sleepover."

"That was nearly the start of summer!" Draco was taken aback. "You're still fighting?"

"Yes. He thinks he knows everything about my family just because we happened to catch my brother doing something illegal. It's all rubbish, his ideas." Aurum crossed her arms.

"I don't think he knows anything about anything," Draco said snidely.

"Well, Draco, I wouldn't go that far." Aurum tried to dial her anger back a few steps.

The sliding door opened again to reveal Vincent and Gregory. They put up their luggage and then sat beside Draco. While Vincent and Draco had began chatting amongst themselves, Gregory and Aurum sat fuming as the train began moving.

"You two can't possibly fight forever." Draco commented.

"I've actually been trying." Gregory rolled his eyes.

"You've been trying to get further on my bad side! All you've done is insult my brother!" Aurum pointed at Gregory.

"I just care about your well-being! I think he might be dangerous." Gregory argued.

"You never talk about your parents." Aurum crossed her arms.

"I'd talk about them any day of the week at any time." Gregory squinted.

"Liar. I know you wouldn't dare speak a word. You're just a gentle giant _except_ when it comes to time and the affairs of my family!" Aurum raised her voice.

"Oh shut up, will you? I've only been saying that I think your brother might start being abusive towards you, you never know with death eaters."

Aurum was silent for some time. " _YOU THINK MY BROTHER IS A DEATH EATER?_ " she screamed to the top of her lungs, her eyes glowing the brightest yellow they could manage.

The sliding door slammed open. Hermione Granger had opened it. She held a dismal expression.

"Are you all quite alright? We can hear you screaming from the other compartment," she said.

"I am. I don't know about Aurum." Gregory looked down at the floor and clasped his hands.

"Well, we'd appreciate it if you'd calm down. Professor Lupin was wondering if you were dueling." Hermione shut the door and walked back to her own compartment.

"She's right—for once. You guys need to calm down." Draco reasoned. "You've had all summer to reconcile and you haven't yet?"

"If he would stop talking about my brother, we would have made up by now," Aurum said.

"I know so much more about your family than you do, Aurum!" Gregory yelled, pointing at the floor angrily.

"Oh really? How? How in the world do you know so much about me and my family than I, being myself and in the family, do?" Aurum asked, throwing her hands up.

Gregory sighed and laid back, crossing his arms. "I've been to your house more than you even know. I come in the night sometimes because it gets unbearable over at my house. They don't even notice I'm not there. Your grandmother talks a lot about you and your brother. I knew he was going to Durmstrang before you, that he had committed unspeakable crimes, and I even knew about your lycanthropy before you."

"So? Doesn't mean... anything." Aurum turned away, wanting to ignore this new piece of information. "Whatever. Just stop talking about it."

Vincent looked between the two. "Okay, now kiss and make up." he incited them.

Gregory and Aurum looked at him as if he had came from another planet. They laughed, looking at each other. It solved nothing, it was only a joke.

"Well, wake me up when we're the Three Musketeers and Aurum again." Draco laid down with a sigh and put his legs on Vincent and Gregory, much to their disgust. Aurum giggled.

* * *

AN: the ship has begun

what am I talking about? You'll see

Still polyshipping tbh but snowwhiteshipping is growing on me bc I'm writing the GoF part and it is a gold mine for that, trust me


	16. Fearless

AN: but real talk. Lupin is the best Hogwarts teacher. Fight me

* * *

The Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom was surprisingly more inviting than last year despite its lack of furnishing besides what Hogwarts provided. Perhaps it was because Professor Lupin was more humble than the extremely arrogant Lockhart. Aurum still had no idea what happened to him.

Professor Lupin had the students line up to confront their fears with boggarts. Aurum had rushed to get a spot near the front. Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle stayed behind, wanting to go last. All four had confronted boggarts in their houses before, so the other three thought it was unnecessary teaching.

Aurum bounced excitedly between Ronald and Harry. She loved transforming her fears into wild things. The boggarts always transformed into the moon recently, though before it was always a disappointed looking Pearl Creste. She hadn't seen one in a while, so she was ecstatic to get to ridicule another moon. Hopefully a fear of the night rather than turning into a werewolf would be assumed by the class. She had never been so happy to see a moon. The last time, she turned the moon into a silver sickle. This time, she thought she might turn it into an ice cube.

"Ms. Creste, are you really that anxious to see what you fear most?" Professor Lupin asked with a hearty tone.

"I love fighting off boggarts, sir! It's extremely funny." Aurum shrugged.

After a few students with wonderfully hilarious imaginations in Aurum's opinion, it was finally her chance to make fun of her worst fear.

She stepped forward with a big smile that soon turned into a grimace as the boggart transformed from Ronald's rollerskating acromantula to her own brother, Argentum. Aurum stepped back into Harry's arms, but she hadn't noticed.

"Crucio!" the boggart said as her brother.

"Riddikulus!" Aurum shrieked quickly, pointing her wand at the white-haired figure. She couldn't think of anything to make fun of her brother except to envision him as an angry snowy owl which was what he often reminded her of.

Gregory hopped over the alcove he stood with the others at to get to Aurum. He dragged her away back to the nook. He wiped the hair out of her wet brown eyes and met them with his worried ones.

"Aura, I had no idea I made you feel that way." Gregory assumed.

"I didn't realize until I saw it. But sometimes I do wonder if he'd ever turn on us even without me hearing your input." Aurum admitted. "It still hurts, Greg, that you think he's a death eater."

"Aura, I know it must make you think I'm horribly arrogant, but I promise I mean everything I say and my sources are all there." Gregory pleaded with her. She shook her head, dodging his grasp. He clenched his fists and looked away.

"I don't believe you." Aurum stood her ground. "I never will."

Class eventually adjourned early after Harry had ended up seeing a dementor which led Professor Lupin to jump in front of him. It was their last period, so everyone had some extra time to spend before curfew. Gregory and Vincent ran out to go goof off in the Slytherin Common Room.

"Ms. Creste, please come here."

Aurum turned around to face Lupin. Draco stopped walking out of the door to come back to her. The two stood in front of Lupin's desk.

"Is everything alright, Aurum? At home, I mean? I haven't heard anything from Pearl recently, so I wouldn't know." Lupin furrowed his brow. "Something must be going on with your brother."

"He's been the same as always." Aurum sighed, holding her arms. "He's still going to Durmstrang."

Draco gave Aurum a small punch. She flinched and cringed at what he meant by it. She had no interest in informing Lupin of her family matters though he was a close friend. There was no reason for her to want to get her brother in trouble for what he had done that summer. She knew it was wrong, but when she questioned him, he hadn't even known what she was talking about. He never lied to her before which prompted her to ask her grandmother about the Imperius Curse. It matched the description, so she hadn't really thought about him.

"Aurum, you've been staring at my desk in complete silence for the past minute." Lupin informed her.

"Sorry sir, I've just been thinking." Aurum apologized. She bit her lip.

"Nothing is wrong, I assume then?" Lupin asked.

"No. Everything is okay."

"Then why do you fear your brother?" Lupin rested his cheek in his palm.

"He always threatens, but he's never actually done anything. He's just a fop." Aurum laughed. "It's just the idea that he might follow through one day, I guess."

"It's not his or her fault, sir. Goyle's been planting the ideas in her head." Draco crossed his arms and looked away. "He's only worried about her, but I think it's done more paranoia than safety."

"I'm glad the issue is settled, then." Lupin sat back in his chair and breathed a sigh of relief. "How is everything?"

"I'm improving with the wolfsbane potion!" Aurum announced happily. "Plus, I got a pet to keep me company, so I'm really happy about that."

Lupin smiled in deep thought. "What if I told you there was a way for you to hang out with your friends without wolfsbane or an animal nearby?"

Aurum nearly allowed herself to scream in excitement. She couldn't suppress her huge grin at the news and looked at Draco with glee. He just furrowed his brow at Lupin.

"Have you ever heard of animagi?" Lupin asked.

"People who can turn into animals, right? Professor McGonagall can do that." Draco nodded.

Lupin laughed jovially, reminiscing on some old memories. "My friends and I always hung out when I turned. They had trained themselves to become animagi in order to stay with me during that time. Because there was no wolfsbane invented back then, there was nothing protecting me from scarring myself. They were a godsend."

"Weren't you friends with Harry Potter's father? What was he?" Aurum asked with stars in her eyes. The prospect of animagi filled her imagination with so many thoughts so quickly.

"Well, I had three friends. He was a stag, but there was also a dog and a rat. It's very hard to magic to preform and takes years. Only the best wizards can do it." Lupin waved his finger.

"Can Potter do it?" Draco asked with a sneer, referring to Harry.

"Not that I'm aware, no. It doesn't just pass down like that." Lupin sounded as if thinking aloud. "Though, perhaps..."

"Hmm?"

"Well, if I am correct, you are related to one of my friends. Maybe you could pull it off?"

"We should do this!" Aurum bounced happily. She beamed at Draco who rubbed his nose embarrassedly.

"I suppose I can try. We can't tell anyone about this though. I'd rather we just kept it to ourselves. It'll be our thing." Draco held his hands out, anticipating a death grip disguised as a hug from Aurum. He got a loving squeeze from her before he pushed her off, getting his breath back.

"Stay after class tomorrow and I should have someone to help." Lupin promised.

* * *

AN: hey listen aurum im real happy that cinderellashipping is working out for you, but some of us ship princessfrogshipping and snowwhiteshipping too


	17. Hippogriff Advocate

AN: AUrum Creste and the Unbelievably Conflicting Friendship Year

* * *

The Slytherin quartet stood under a large Oak tree atop a hill by the gamekeeper's grounds. They were at Care of Magical Creatures class. Vincent was nodding off against it, but the other three were wide awake. Aurum was bursting with excitement to see the hippogriffs, Draco was eating an apple as if it was his last due to him oversleeping and missing most of breakfast, and Gregory was still trying to cool off from the previous day.

"Let's go mess with Potter." Draco suggested giddily, looking up ahead. "You guys love that. Besides, I'm bored with this talk of overgrown birds."

"I don't think we should ever mess with Harry. We should really leave him to his own business." Aurum protested.

Silence as they stared at the rest of class from their shade beneath the trees.

"I think something's going on with Granger." Draco put out there.

Aurum scoffed. "What's wrong with her? And why do you care?"

"I don't. It's just that she just kind of showed up."

"Yeah, Draco, people go to class. It's a thing people do." Gregory smirked.

"You imbecile, I meant that she flashed onto the grounds like she apparated in." Draco snapped. "It was really weird."

"So what's going on with Ronald?" Aurum asked, leaning against the tree to her right.

"Nothing. What makes you ask about the Weasel?" Draconian sneered.

"Something's wrong with Harry and Hermione, so must be something with him too." Aurum raised her eyebrows. "And please don't call him a weasel."

"I was only worried about Granger is all." Draco groaned.

Vincent quickly awoke as Gregory and Aurum's laughs rang through the grounds. People were beginning to stare, and seeing nothing but Draco's scarlet face, they turned back around to focus on their professor, Hagrid.

"Worried? About Granger? Since when?" Gregory chortled.

"Since she started doing some kind of freaky magic!" Draco gestured towards her spastically. His face still glowed red. He bit into his apple fiercely. "She's like the Juliet to my Benvolio."

"Whatever you say, Romeo. I just want to go pet some hippogriffs." Aurum giggled, running towards the front of the class. The other three ran after her to catch up.

"Look at this beautiful birdie!" Aurum gestured towards the biggest hippogriff, Buckbeak according to Hagrid. She hopped over to a much smaller one. "This one is so cute!" she pointed.

"I'm glad yer excited about them, Ms. Creste." Hagrid scratched the back of his head.

Aurum smiled ear to ear looking at all of the hippogriffs. "My gramma said she rode one once," she said offhandedly to Draco. "She said it was unbelievably cool."

"I wouldn't ride it. It looks dangerous. Just look at its talons." Draco pointed to the claws of Buckbeak.

Aurum bit her lip until it nearly bled when Hagrid chose Harry to try to fly on the hippogriff first. She didn't want to say anything, but felt it unfair since she was so much more excited about it when Hagrid asked for volunteers.

When Harry returned from his flight, Aurum shrieked for a turn against the screams of other students. Aurum and Draco were granted chances to ride the hippogriffs. She was given a small golden one and he was given Buckbeak. She bowed to the creature and it immediately bowed back, chirping happily at her. She hopped onto it and was ready to fly upon it until she saw Draco collapsed on the ground being attacked by Buckbeak.

"Stop! Stop it!" Aurum screamed at the hippogriff as she hopped off of hers to help Draco. She heaved the screaming boy by the back away along with Gregory and Vincent at the arms.

Everyone had backed off now, seeing how the hippogriff had attacked Draco. He may have insulted the bird as Aurum barely noticed, but he didn't deserve the large gashes across his chest and arm.

Hagrid dismissed class and took Draco to the infirmary with Hermione opening the gate out of the gamekeeper's grounds. Aurum, Gregory, and Vincent followed them closely and with worry in their eyes.

* * *

AN: it continues

what continues? Draco's thirst


	18. Teacher's Pet

AN: whispers in your ear gently, _wolfstar_

* * *

Draco was dismissed from the infirmary after Madam Pomfrey had magically brought the gashes back together and bandaged them up. As per the usual, Draco was still moaning about it all day. Especially whenever he saw that Harry, Ron, and Hermione were around. When he caught onto the fact that Aurum, Vincent, and Gregory had noticed this, he began showing his cast off to a couple of Slytherin girls. Draco got out of all his classes because of his arm, but was still summoned to Lupin's room alongside Aurum.

He arrived by Aurum's side in time for Lupin to show them what he said was sure to be a surprise. He stood in the center of the room with all the tables removed. A large, black dog sat beside him calmly. Of all the things they could have seen, Sirius Black, transforming from the dog and into his human form was not one they expected.

The man who was just a dog was extremely raggedy. His ebony hair fell over his shoulders in a state of disarray, and he looked as if he hadn't shaved in years. His clothes didn't really fit, they looked too big, but just right for Professor Lupin.

Draco screamed and attempted to run off from the two men, but Aurum dragged him away from the hinge of the door. It was easy seeing as he had only one available arm.

"I'm sorry this comes as such a shock, but I'm here!" Sirius shrugged with what looked to be a genuine grin. His laugh seemed so too, rather than the maniacal one Aurum would have assumed he'd have.

Aurum stood by the door with Draco, a safe distance, but one close enough to begin questioning. "What is going on?" she began.

"I helped Sirius into the castle. We've been searching for Peter Pettigrew." Lupin explained. "I thought I might be able to trust the both of you. A friend of Aurum is a friend of mine."

"Pettigrew's dead, I thought," Draco said, shaking his head. "You must be mad! Stark raving mad! You're all loony if you think I'm staying here!"

"Let's just hear him out, Draco." Aurum kept her grip on her friend. "You're a murderer, Mr. Black, if I may be so bold. Why should we trust our lives with you?"

"Because I never killed anyone. It was Peter Pettigrew who killed those muggles. He cut off his own finger, turned into a rat and ran away." it was Sirius' turn to explain.

"What brings you here?" Aurum asked.

"We're using a student's cat to try to find him, but we're not having much luck," Sirius said. "I just know one of the student's pets is a rat that looks just like him."

Draco threw up his free hand. "Now I totally believe you." he deadpanned.

"Animagi are what I'm trying to teach you two about. The first thing you need to know are the identifying features of an animagi," Lupin said. "When you know someone well enough, it's easy to tell who they are as an animal."

"What color is a rat?" Sirius asked as if he was a teacher asking a class.

"Well, some can be brown, some can be grey, black even. What does this even matter?" Draco shook his head.

"How many fingers do they have?" Sirius followed up.

"Four, I thought." Aurum scratched the back of her head. Maybe it was five, she thought. Six wouldn't be out of the ordinary, she supposed.

"That's right. So what if I told you that rat was missing a pinky?" Sirius crossed his arms and smirked.

"If I had seen him, I might believe you. Then again, this could all just be some crazy story you're winding up to make us believe you. I really should just report you both to Dumbledore." Draco drawled.

Aurum stroked her chin. "A lot of good that'll do you. Not saying there's anything wrong with Dumbledore—"

"There's a lot of things wrong with Dumbledore." Draco chimed in.

"—but that would be an Order reunion. Typically, everybody remembers the Order and what happened. My grandmother was shocked to hear Sirius Black had betrayed James and Lily Potter. She wouldn't stop going on about it when he came back onto the news out of Azkaban." Aurum explained. "It was incredulous to us all, and only those close really knew what happened. So what happened, Professor Lupin?"

Draco stepped back from Aurum and stared at her with his mouth agape. "Why him? He just brought an escaped prisoner into our school!"

"Because that's his boyfriend. If anyone would know," Aurum turned to Lupin. "it would be him."

Lupin promptly ignored Draco's oddly high-pitched shriek of terror at the thought of the two dating and began explaining what happened between Sirius and Peter. "Sirius was the secret-keeper for James and Lily, but he felt it too obvious and left it to Peter. When Peter told You-Know-Who of James and Lily's location, Sirius set out to find Peter and turn him in," he said. "Peter, being the coward he always was, turned into a rat, cut off his pinky, and killed thirteen muggles behind him with a curse to frame Sirius."

"I wish I had killed him. It was too dangerous of a place, however. All the muggles about." Sirius looked off to the left. "We knew he never had a brave bone in his body, but we never thought..."

Aurum clapped her hands together loudly and brought them to her chin. "Well, I believe you! Not sure about Draco."

"I don't, but I'm not going to leave you alone with them," Draco said under his breath to Aurum. He sighed and looked at Aurum's pleading eyes. "If you really trust them, I suppose I should as well."

"We'll teach you how to become an animagi if you bring us the rat." Sirius pointed at Draco.

"No, no we don't expect you to do that." Lupin waved away the pair's fears away.

"Yes we do." Sirius affirmed his statement. Lupin shook his head.

"Why me? Why not her? She's the one that's going along with this!" Draco gestured towards Aurum.

"Because she doesn't need to become an animagi. It's you who's supposed to keep her stable as a werewolf. That is, unless you aren't friends?" Sirius raised an eyebrow. Lupin spastically waved his hands out of the sight of Sirius, mouthing, "No."

Draco bit his cheeks and looked down, his face ruby with anger. He looked back up at Sirius with an exasperated sigh. "Fine! We are friends so I'm going to take your cruddy lessons to help my friend. Okay?"

Lupin elbowed Sirius. "He kind of reminds me of you."

"Hot-headedness runs in the family." Sirius snickered.

Lupin cleared his throat after laughing so much with his significant other. "We're still going to teach you, don't worry. That's just Sirius talking. You can leave getting Pettigrew to us. Of course, we'd be highly appreciative if you did, but it's no fee."

"Sirs, if you want Ronald Weasley's rat, I'm sure we could probably get it better than you since you're a teacher and a wanted murderer." Aurum nodded, happy with her own plan.

"In that case, your first lesson is now!" Sirius exclaimed happily. "How do you tell apart an animagi from a normal animal?"

"A distinguishing mark. Like a missing limb." Aurum answered.

"Or glasses, like Professor McGonagall's cat form." Draco added.

"Meet us back here tomorrow with or without the rat." Lupin ordered. "It really doesn't matter."

"I'll never forgive you if you don't!" Sirius pointed at Aurum this time. It was actually kind of hard to tell if he was joking or not.

Draco and Aurum waved goodbye as they headed out into the hallway, but once they were back in the Slytherin Common Room, Draco breathed a sigh of relief.

"We didn't get murdered on the first day. How lucky." Draco wiped his forehead.

* * *

AN: the nicest people are the ones who are nice in front of potential killers


	19. Harry Potter Fan

AN: tbh this started out as a joke but the idea was too good to pass up

* * *

"The only thing about wizard libraries are that they usually don't carry muggle books. They might have one section, and that's it. That's not enough to hold all the great literature that comes from them." Draco beamed, thinking of his favorite books. He prodded through a few on the shelf and threw one down from the ladder to Aurum.

"I don't see the problem with wizard books." Aurum supposed as she caught it and put it on the stack.

"If it's not a textbook or a biography, it's usually rather rubbish. If it's an adventure book, it sounds like someone wrote it while on felix felicis or amortentia. Basically, like a crazier Alice in Wonderland. If it's a romance, it's usually very dark. As if someone was writing it on amortentia—are you starting to see a pattern? Crazy in love with the subject and crazy in general." Draco explained. He found another and threw it down to her as well.

"I'm sure someone likes to read them." Aurum shrugged with an unsure smile. She put the other book on the stack.

"Yes, but I don't. Therefore, they're worthless to me." Draco slid off the ladder with another book in his hand. He carried this one himself unlike the other five.

"Of course you get the occasional good book from wizards like In Cold Castles or To Kill a Hippogriff. They were written by half-bloods not raised by wizards. An interesting pair, they were," Draco said.

"I love To Kill a Hippogriff." Aurum smiled.

"I know." Draco smiled back.

Aurum looked up to hide her blush from Draco. "So what do we do about Sirius and Peter? I want to bring him the rat, but I don't want Ronald to hate me. If the rat was really a man, you don't think he would, do you?" she asked Draco.

"Why are you afraid of him hating you? Do you... like him?" Draco teased with a devilish smirk.

"No, my heart belongs to Harry. Besides, you like Hermione and deny it, so you shouldn't be teasing me about who I like."

"I so don't like Hermione!" Draco screeched, gaining the attention of everybody in the library. Aurum thought she might have seen the Gryffindor trio in there as well. Draco hid his scarlet face behind a book and hurriedly walked to the counter to check out his books.

Aurum placed the book stack beside him. "I have a meeting I need to go to, but I'll be in the common room later."

Skipping in the halls, Aurum finally found the empty Astronomy classroom and looked out on the balcony at the perfectly sunny day which soon would become cloudy as winter came around. The sound of footsteps alerted her to company.

Ginny Weasley walked into the room with her Gryffindor friends and some others.

Sitting in a circle from left to right was Ginny, Aurum, Luna Lovegood, Hannah Abott, Neville Longbottom, Colin Creevy, Parvati and Padma Patil, and Lavender Brown. Quite a few were carrying photos.

"The first meeting of the year of the Harry Potter Fan Club may begin now! First things first, has anybody told Harry of our meetings, hmm?" Ginny raised an eyebrow at her fellow club members. When no-one answered, she continued. "Good then, we can get right on to business. Aurum, have you arranged seating for us at the next Gryffindor game?"

"Yes, I took up the issue with Professor Hooch. She allowed me to arrange you all front row seats." Aurum smiled at her resourcefulness.

"Neville, have you asked Harry if he's alright playing?" Ginny turned to the blonde.

"He did say yes, but was confused about why I asked. You don't think he's catching on to our club, do you?" he asked.

"No, he probably just thinks you like him too much. But don't we all?" Ginny asked, gaining a collective cheer from the rest of the club.

"So Ginny, what have you done?" Lavender asked.

"Oh, where to start? I've been doing surveillance and I found his robe hanging off the side of the couch in the common room." Ginny held up a photo which gained a gasp. "What was it doing there I don't know. Maybe he has a girl that's not one of us if you catch my drift."

Neville raised his hand. "I heard he's been trying to get Ron and Hermione to get together, but here's a picture where it looks like he's kissing Hermione." he held up the photo which really looked more like he was only behind her.

"You think that's bad? You know Malfoy likes Hermione? He says he doesn't, but girl, everyone can see it." Lavender rolled her eyes. "I heard him in the library today. I hope Hermione drops him like he's hot."

"But what does that have to do with Harry?" Aurum asked with a sneer.

"It doesn't, but this picture shows him staring at Hermione's butt." Lavender held up a picture from the day with the hippogriffs. The club gave murmurs of shock.

"You know, Malfoy's kinda cute too," Padma said. Parvati nodded in agreement.

"Not really. At least, not as much as Harry. I wouldn't date him. He's too brash to hold any kind of deep relations with." Aurum admitted.

Ginny laughed. "Oh, Aurum. Beautiful, beautiful Aurum. You've totally got a crush."

"No I don't! Ginny, there's nothing wrong with being friends with another boy. My best friend since we were little has been Gregory even though we're having a spat right now." Aurum huffed.

"Dude, you have to pick one," Lavender said.

"I wouldn't date either of them! They're just friends." Aurum blushed.

"See that! The blush proves it! You like one of them! So who is it?" Lavender asked. "Perfect Malfoy or the gargoyle?"

"Don't call him that! He's perfect the way he is." Aurum sighed angrily.

"It's him, then. You must like Goyle." Hannah jumped to the conclusion. Aurum was silent.

"If you do like neither, then I must confess. My brother, Ron, told Harry I liked him, so it's only fair I tell you how much he adores you." Ginny put a calming hand on Aurum's shoulder. "Mum teases him all the time about it. She talks to your gram about it too."

"Gramma has mentioned our marriage once. Or twice. All the time." Aurum rolled her eyes. "I love your family, but..."

"I know. Unbearable, isn't he? Well, I believe that wraps up our meeting!" Ginny stood quickly. "Remember, Potterheads, always keep believing in the magic that is Harry Potter!"

* * *

AN: Ginny and Aurum are pretty much Leslie and Ann from Parks. The HPFC is Harry's personal TMZ

and not everyone in the group has a crush on harry(like Lavender and Hannah for example), they just like him for his heroism. except Neville

the narry is still strong with me


	20. Frazzled

AN: shortest chapter of the part but the thirstiest

* * *

Draco and Aurum left Professor Lupin's class one night in tears from laughing so hard.

"Sirius' face when you did that was amazing!" Aurum chuckled.

"It's not my fault it's so hard to pull off! So what if my head became a wolf's and nothing else? At least I did that much!" Draco howled with laughter, prompting Aurum's to grow much louder.

"I wish you could already do it so we could hang out." Aurum's mood suddenly became sour.

"I do too, but let me at least walk you down to Professor McGonagall." Draco put his arm around her.

He quickly removed it, however, when he along with Aurum spotted a girl with a mess of brown hair suddenly teleport in front of them. She whipped around to notice her company.

"What date and time is it? Have you been attacked by a hippogriff yet?" she asked. It was Hermione and she was holding a hourglass-like item.

"Yes. Wednesday, the fifth of November after curfew. Is that a time turner?" Draco asked, pointing at her small device.

"Yes, and I must be going now. I'm from third period of September thirtieth." Hermione muttered, tempering with her handheld device.

"What are you using it for?" Draco further questioned.

"I have so many classes that I have to use this to get to them all." Hermione answered.

"I would've signed up for a lot if I knew they would supply me this." Draco mumbled.

Aurum looked between the two with a knowing grin. She bounced happily before finally bursting out, "Tell her you love her!" she covered her mouth quickly, but smiled at Draco.

"What was that?" Hermione asked, wide-eyed.

"Nothing. It was just Aurum being Aurum." Draco laughed awkwardly. He elbowed Aurum in the stomach gently. Just enough to force her to nod.

They were silent for some time while Hermione was still fumbling with her hourglass.

Draco twiddled his thumbs as he watched her spin back the hourglass. He attempted to puff out his chest though nothing was really there to embolden him. "So do you like powerful wizards because I know an animagus—"

And with that, she was gone.

"Way to go, Romeo." Aurum snidely remarked.

"I told you, I am the Benvolio to her Juliet. No interest!" Draco affirmed.

"Well, the way she's acting, you're more like her Count Paris," Aurum said with a slight tone of worry. "You have to be smoother than this."

Draco sighed. "I know."

"In the meantime, let's go before I maul you." Aurum suggested.

* * *

AN: plague on both your houses if you don't confess your undying love


	21. The Great Compromiser

AN: endgame is so confusing that I'm literally just considering a polyship of the Slytherin Quartet at this point

but then again the GoF part is going to be such a rollercoaster...

* * *

Snowflakes fell on the heads of the Slytherins visiting Hogsmeade for the first time. They sat upon a hill outlooking the Shrieking Shack. They had taken their butterbeers to go and were happily sipping them as they watched the flakes fall.

"Aurum, I've been thinking," Gregory said. He placed his hand next to hers.

"That's a dangerous pastime." Vincent commented.

"I know, but I really want you to stop hating me." Gregory looked deeply into Aurum's eyes.

"I never hated you or stopped liking you even. I'm just tired of you talking about my brother like he's the devil." Aurum replied.

"I will if it means I get to hear your laugh again." Gregory chuckled unsurely.

Aurum gave a slight snicker and rested her head in the crook of his neck. He pulled her close to him with his free arm around her. Vincent put his free arm around Gregory's shoulder and Draco did the same with Aurum.

"I've had a lot of good memories in that house." Aurum noted, looking at the Shrieking Shack. She sipped her butterbeer and gained a butter mustache from it. "I've skipped so much school there."

"Soon we can skip together." Draco smiled at the prospect.

"How come you get to be her animagus? You haven't lived beside her for thirteen years." Gregory commented.

"No I haven't, that's exactly why I get to." Draco answered. A rustling in the bushes alerted him to the presence of others. "Hush, we can't talk about her lycanthropy out in the open."

"I've actually came out to a few Gryffindors." Aurum shrugged.

"What about Slytherins and Hufflepuffs? They'll try to report you. I know how they are." Draco rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, you can't just go around saying that. It's like saying, 'Hey guys, I've got an MTD!' or something," Vincent said.

"Can't we talk about Sirius and Remmy at least?" Aurum groaned. There was another rustling in the bushes.

The four stood from their warm, cozy, and comfortable positions to investigate the people listening. Draco held a finger to his mouth in front of the other three and then turned to pull back the bushes to reveal Ronald and Hermione with the absence of Harry for once.

"So uh... who's Remmy?" Ronald asked cheekily. Gregory, without a moment's hesitation, dragged the redhead from his hiding space and into the snow by his ginger locks.

"Gregory! Not so hard!" Aurum pleaded.

"Honestly, don't be such a brute." Hermione huffed.

"Yes, that was rather rough. He's bleeding." Draco added right after Hermione, pointing to the ginger's forehead which was scraped by some branches.

"This weasel could have heard you talking about your lycanthropy." Gregory stomped the snow below him. He covered his mouth. Aurum sighed. It was a wonde rher secret _was_ still secret around Slytherins.

"Well, if he didn't know before, he sure knows now." Vincent squeezed his eyebrows, cringing at Gregory.

"It's fine. If Ginny knows, then he does." Aurum shrugged. "It's no big deal."

Gregory lifted Ronald to his feet. "If this gets out, you're as good as dead."

"Don't threaten." Aurum cried out.

"What _can_ I do, Aura?" Gregory was taken aback.

"You can be nice." Vincent joked.

Gregory stared down at Ronald. "I would be nice if Weasel wouldn't be such a—" Gregory stopped for he was hit in the side of face with a snowball. He let go of Ronald's shoulder and wiped the snow off of his face. "Vincent! What was that about?"

"It wasn't me, I swear!" Vincent threw up his hands.

"It wasn't us," Aurum said about her and Draco. "Hermione?"

"No." Hermione huffed, wrapping her arms around Ronald who ran back to her.

Vincent was hit by a snowball and looked around for the perpetrator.

Draco shrugged and laughed. Then, he was hit by a snowball. He turned to Aurum. "That was too close to be a throw from anyone else."

"It wasn't me though." Aurum looked towards the sky and giggled. Someone briefly flipped the hair out of her eyes. "Draco, you know I don't really like when you do that."

"It wasn't me," Draco said. "Maybe it's the ghost of Potter."

At that same time, the four caught Ronald, Hermione, and what seemed to be the disembodied head of Harry Potter laughing.

The Slytherin quartet ran off screaming. Aurum tripped on her robes and shrieked the shrillest and loudest as she ran to catch up with her male friends.

* * *

AN: can this friendship just? Not end? Please?

the guys totally told on Harry to Snape against Aurum's wishes


	22. Rebel

AN: mssrs. Moonbeam, Ridgeback, Silver, and Stones would like to welcome you to the chapter the author didn't really want to write.

* * *

"So what do we do now?" Draco drawled, kicking his feet off the bed in boredom.

Aurum shrugged, flipping pages in her magazine. She put it down and sat up beside Draco. "I've never had an animagus, obviously. Can you do it again, by the way? Just to make sure everything's okay?"

Draco got off of the bed and without a word or wand transformed into a slender and proud silver wolf. He howled for show. Aurum clapped as he transfigured himself back into his human form. He took a bow.

Then, a picture caught his attention. He picked it up. It was of the Marauders. "It's such a shame what happened to them. Here they trusted their friend so much and he betrayed them all. I hope nothing like that ever happens to us."

Aurum pulled him into a hug as much as she could, being a dwarf compared to his height. "I do too. I feel bad we couldn't get Peter to Sirius. He bit me so much that I'd just rather not try anymore. Plus, Hermione's cat kind of had it covered. And it's true what he said. He does have only three fingers. I didn't feel the best taking advantage of Ronald's trust anyway."

"We need nicknames like the Marauders." Draco suggested.

"We can call you Silver because of your wolf pelt," Aurum said excitedly.

"You can be Moonbeam. Get it? Because you smile a lot." Draco snapped his fingers at her and winked. "But what about Crabbe and Goyle? They're not animagi."

"They should be! Ooh! We can guess what they'd be and make nicknames for that. I'd say Greg would be a gargoyle due to how protective he is. So maybe Stones?"

"Perhaps. I think Crabbe would be a dragon," Draco said. Aurum stared in confusion. "What? I just do. So maybe Ridgeback? They can match."

"We couldn't bring them into the Shack if they were that big though." Aurum noted.

"We'll have to take our adventures to Hogsmeade." Draco smirked at the thought. "Imagine us all in Hogsmeade at night. Wolves, a dragon, and a gargoyle. How crazy would that be?"

"Sounds like a good novel," Aurum said.

"I'd read it." Draco agreed.

Just then, they heard the crash of a door and the sound of someone screaming along with dog's growls.

"Shut up! Just give me that rat!" it sounded like Sirius.

"No way! I'm not giving you Scabbers!" it was Ronald.

By the hair, Sirius dragged Ronald up to the bedroom where Aurum and Draco were now at the doorway. They were all shocked to see each other.

"I'm sorry to bother you both. This was Remus' room so I just naturally came here." Sirius admitted embarrassedly.

The raggedy man took and pushed Ronald onto the bed in the back of the room. Draco and Aurum rushed to the redhead's aid. They saw the rat he cradled in his arms and grabbed for it. He shielded the pet with his body.

Aurum groaned in frustration. "Why must you be so difficult, Ronald?"

"I just don't understand why everyone wants Scabbers for." Ronald whimpered. "Besides, he broke my leg."

"Sirius, you can't just break people's legs." Draco moaned.

"Well," Sirius crossed his arms and looked away. "He was being difficult."

"Weasley, your rat is actually a fully grown man. It's hard to explain, actually." Draco scratched his nose.

"Ron! We're coming!" that must have been Hermione. Sirius heard the voices and transfigured himself back into a dog. Draco, showing off, transformed into a wolf again.

Sure enough, Harry and Hermione showed up in the doorframe with their wands out. They were confused to see Ron with just Aurum.

"If you want us to leave, we can." Harry shuffled his feet. He pointed between the wolf and dog. "This really seems like bad news, but if it's what you're into, hey, all the power to you."

"It's a trap! That's not really a dog! It's not really a wolf, either." Ron cried.

Aurum puffed out her cheeks and whipped around on the Weasley. "Oh? But your rat is completely normal, isn't he?"

"Scabbers is Scabbers, but that dog is Sirius Black!" Ron exclaimed.

In that moment, Sirius became tired of being in his canine form and transformed into a raggedy man once more. His smile at the sight of Harry was hard for him to hide. It was obvious he was happy to see him by the way his tail wagged when he was a dog.

"Aurum? What the heck are you doing with Sirius Black?" Hermione asked, completely distraught.

"No! He's a good guy! I swear on my life that he is," Aurum said.

"That's actually a lot coming from you. Surely he's just deceived you?" Harry pointed his wand at her. She didn't feel the need to take hers out in defense.

Aurum ducked down to wrap her arms around Draco. "He's been helping me and Draco. I don't have to take wolfsbane anymore because of Sirius. Harry, you have to know who he is to you."

"Yeah, he's the one that effectively killed my parents!" Harry pointed at Sirius who appeared hurt by this.

"It wasn't him and we can prove it! If Ronald will just give up his stupid rat!" Aurum pouted.

"You asked to see him once and almost made off with him, why should I trust you again?" Ronald asked.

"He's a traitor, Ronald! Literally a rat! Just give it up!"

"No!"

"I thought you liked me!"

"Maybe I do, but maybe I don't. Why does that matter?"

"Give me the rat!"

"What is all this yelling about?" Lupin pushed through Harry and Hermione to get to Aurum and Ronald.

"Remus!" Sirius greeted. He ambled to him and wrapped an arm over his shoulder. "Let's kill him! Let's kill him!"

"Think for a second, Sirius, we can't do anything with him if we kill him." Remus corrected the man.

"Wait? Professor? You're in leagues with Sirius Black?" Harry asked.

"Of course Harry, I'm—we're—oh, I'll tell you when you're older." Remus muttered.

"Well, while your sorting everything out, I'm just going to take my wolf friend down to the kitchen whilst I still have opposable thumbs." Aurum rolled her eyes and walked away from the arising conflict. Draco followed at her heels.

The wolf changed back to Draco on the way down the stairs. He put his arm around Aurum's shoulders. She did the same to him as they walked into the kitchen.

"I'm surprised we even have food here." Aurum commented on the pantry full of bread and peanut butter. That was all there was. "They really liked their peanut butter. I'm used to it now."

"I hope everything works out for Remus and Sirius," Draco said.

"Harry isn't the type to forgive so easily. Sirius knew he'd be just like his father, so he might be easy to convince." Aurum reasoned.

The door to the Shrieking Shack opened again. This time, it was Professor Snape. He was tiptoeing towards the upstairs bedroom. Out of the corner, he noticed Aurum fixing herself a peanut butter sandwich and Draco sitting with her at the table.

He pointed his outstretched wand at Draco. "Go back to the castle, now." he demanded coldly.

"But sir, I'm an animagus. I'll be alright." Draco protested, standing quickly.

"I don't care what you are, you may not be in the presence of a werewolf." Snape widened his eyes in anger.

"I've already notified Professor McGonagall, I'm certified." Draco protested further.

"Certified or not, I don't care. You could seriously put yourself in harm's way if you can't keep your form up for whatever reason. If you don't get back to the castle, it's detention until the end of school for being so idiotic as to stay in such a dangerous place. I knew there was a reason Creste wasn't making her wolfsbane."

Aurum cried silently. "Draco, go on. I don't want to hold you back."

Draco held a hand in front of Aurum. "No, I'm staying."

"When I'm done upstairs, I'm escorting you out." Snape warned.

After a few minutes of cold silence, there was what sounded like an explosion upstairs.

"Should we go check on him?" Aurum asked.

"Nah. Let's go sneak into Hogsmeade like how the Marauders used to." Draco suggested with a sly smile, leaning on the arm of his chair.

Aurum held up a finger to protest. "He may be hurt."

"Who cares? He wanted to split us up and you need me!" Draco argued.

Silence again. Then, Sirius and Harry came chatting down the stairs, Remus was holding an weird-looking man by the arms, and Ronald and Hermione were levitating an unconscious Snape out of the house.

"Well that takes care of our problem." Aurum raised a brow.

"Let's go to Hogsmeade."

* * *

AN: they terrorized everyone as wolves that night. Everyone's ok, but some sweets from Zonko's didn't make it out alive.

i wanted to skip this chapter but it led the way for things to wrap up at the end so yeah. Next chapter is the last for this part

and no, Goyle and Crabbe won't be animagi, it would only complicate matters


	23. Delinquent

AN: I'm really grateful the story is getting more reviews! Even though some are more negative than others, I fully understand the viewpoint and agree with them to an extent. I have taken them into consideration of course. I'm actually stopping the writing of the OOTP part solely so I can take in criticism from reviewers besides my beta.

* * *

Music from the small radio in Snape's classroom played "Hooked on a Feeling" quietly in a corner. The Gryffindor Trio and the Slytherin Quartet were in detention for the night previous besides Harry who had been having detention for a while. They were ordered to clean up the potions room.

"I never expected to have Slytherins in detention, but your actions were inexcusable." Snap looked at Draco and Aurum. "You put yourself in a dangerous situation, Mr. Malfoy, and you allowed this, Ms. Creste." Snape looked at Vincent and Gregory with a curled lip. "Your loyalty speaks measures, but I expect answers when asked about locations of other students."

He watched the group in cold silence after delivering the list of chores for them.

Aurum removed jarred assorted items for potions from their shelves as Draco and Gregory dusted. Vincent held her ladder. Harry and Ronald swept after Hermione mopped and dried the floors.

"Thanks for sticking up for us." Aurum smiled at Gregory.

He turned from his dusting off the jars to reply. "It's no problem, Aura. I'd give up anything for you. Even my free time."

"No reason we can't have a good time now." Vincent shrugged. He was holding Aurum's ladder in place. He shook it to mess with her.

"Vincent Jasper Crabbe, stop this instant!" she chastised, holding a jar of pickled sprites close to her bosom with one arm and the other firmly latched onto the shelf from which they came.

Vincent and Draco boomed with laughter. After a sneer from Snape, they quickly hushed. While they were looking in that direction, Draco murmured something Vincent asked him to repeat a tad louder. He had been staring straight at Hermione who was chatting with Ron, hugging while doing so.

"Do you think Hermione likes me back?" Draco asked worriedly.

The other Slytherins smiled dopily at the blonde who blushed madly.

"Draco likes Hermione!" Aurum gasped. It was only loud enough for those around to hear.

"Yes, well, only because of her intelligence. It rivals mine, but I believe I'm smarter." Draco dusted a jar furiously though there was no such dust to speak of.

Aurum took her hands off the ladder to gesture. "Guys, we're now in Operation Mrs. Malfoy. We knew this day was coming and we have to get them together."

"But she slapped me over that stupid hippogriff and Hagrid. She's not going to like me after that." Draco moaned. He bent over limply like a morose willow not of the whomping kind. Gregory dusted his face with a feather duster jokingly. No response was given.

"What you need to do is improve your attitude towards her." Gregory put his hands on his hips. "Give her a gift or something."

"Do you think she likes pickled sprites?" Aurum asked, holding up the jar. "Bluebell blueberries? Pig's tails? What about spiced griffon claws? Man, Snape has a lot of food up here. How is this potion stuff? It's more like a food stash than anything."

"Show her Gryffindor pride by giving her that!" Gregory suggested to Draco. "Give her the spiced griffon claws."

"Well, they are okay. Not one of my favorites, though." Draco held his hands out for the jar.

"I dunno if Snape will care or not. Go ask him." Aurum handed down the jar of spiced griffon claws.

The three watched as Draco asked Snape about gifting the jar to Hermione. Surprisingly, the professor cried tears of happiness and nodded for him to give it to her. The Slytherins laughed quietly at the transaction. Who knew Snape had it in him to be that nice?

However, Draco clearly didn't pull off the charm needed for everything to go smoothly. He held out the jar from his body as far as he could in front of Hermione. She was more confused than anything. She accepted the gift and put it on a table, but didn't understand why he was giving it to her. He was stuttering with a red hot face and mumbled something about an apology for Hagrid and the hippogriff. She nodded and continued her mopping.

Draco ran back to the other Slytherins out of breath. They just laughed.

"I did what you all said to." Draco had no clue why they were chortling at his first flirt attempt.

"You did, but you were so awkward. Maybe Remmy can teach you a few things." Aurum smiled down at him.

"He's leaving though." Draco mused sadly.

"But he's always someone you can write to. Same for Sirius."

"I just wish she liked me _now._ " Draco huffed and crossed his arms.

"She will if you get a little more charm and more chaste." Vincent advised. "At least you're not chasing a stag and have a weasel after you." Vincent shook Aurum's ladder again, causing her to scream loudly.

"Hey, Aura! School's letting out for summer tomorrow, so we need to start planning sleepovers. And Draco, you need to teach me and Vince how to be animagi," Gregory said as he dusted a couple jars Aurum handed down.

"This time, let's go to Aurum's. We've all never been together." Draco suggested.

"Watch out. My brother might hex you all." Aurum rolled her eyes.

"Aura, that's not going to happen. Besides, we're purebloods." he laughed. Aurum and the others followed suit.

Aurum climbed down from the ladder and the other Slytherins leaned in for a group hug.

"Next year, no more conflict! Promise!" Aurum swore.

"Promise!" the whole Slytherin Quartet yelled.

* * *

AN: the end to another part!

snape is such a sap for pureblood-muggleborn romances (TTuTT) (he was thinking of Lily, by the way)

So yes some things are looking canon, but not everything lasts, so things are looking up for you Princessfrogshippers!

Of Apples and Oranges will continue with Goblet of Fire!

Now for questions like I promised(I'll try to sum them up)

Q: Why did Aurum use an "old and tired" owl to deliver packages twice its size? Was she trying to kill it?

A: No, but Argentum certainly was lol. Idk why, because I don't think it's mentioned in the books, movies, etc. but the way I see it is that owls are just stronger than people think and can carry everything. They're the best postal service in the world pretty much.

Q: Why not call her a half-blood? Quarterblood seems pretentious.

A: It's integral to the story because it's as if it's worse than being muggle-born or a squib in the eyes of Purists. Also, I do bring this up in the GoF part with Argentum whose whole character arc revolves around his blood. Aurum's arc with that is over, so she's just entered the realm of "who cares".


	24. Fireworks Enthusiast

AN: And the Goblet of Fire part starts! Yes, I will be going all the way to Deathly Hallows. That ones a doozy. It will be a separate fic bc it's so different.

* * *

Fireworks burst into the sky like exploding rockets from the wands of many in the colors of carmine and turquoise. This was the signal that the 422nd Quidditch World Cup had finally begun.

Behind the flap of a tent hid not merely a small space but one the size of a one-story house. It was bigger on the inside. There was a small stovepipe by a bunk bed. Below it was a sleeping bag. A wooden table was to the left with chairs and further left was a queen-sized bed. Many decorative rugs covered the floor. It was a warm environment and felt homey.

Aurum rose from her sleeping bag with a loud yawn. She scratched her sloppily laid golden hair and swept a couple strands out of her chocolate eyes. Her hand found Draco's bottom bunk and she hoisted herself up with it. She slipped away towards the front of the tent and lifted the flap. Fireworks were still going on in gold and silver.

The very excitable blonde ran back to the bunk bed and scrambled up the ladder. She shook her brother angrily awake.

"What?" Argentum spat. He rubbed his eyes lazily.

"They're shooting off amazing fireworks! You should come watch!" Aurum grinned from ear to ear.

"Fireworks?" came Draco's voice. Aurum's loudness had stirred him as well. On the flip side, he was just as happy as Aurum.

"Yes! Huge ones!" Aurum probably exaggerated. She gestured the explosion with her arms and a sound effect.

Aurum raced down the ladder and out of the tent to get outside before Draco. He had won, and was admiring the fireworks with bright eyes. Aurum joined his side and beamed up at the amazing sights. Now they were honoring the colors of Durmstrang, scarlet and bronze. They even shot off a firework in the shape of a two-headed cockatrice, their mascot. It was at this time that Argentum decided to groggily amble outside with the two fourteen year olds.

When they returned to the inside of the tent, Draco's parents were awake and preparing coffee. Argentum pulled out a seat at the table. Aurum and Draco sat on the lower bunk.

"It's so great to have you both here," Narcissa, Draco's mother, said, referring to the Creste's. "Your grandmother was the best astronomy teacher I've ever had."

Lucius, Draco's father, handed a mug to Narcissa and sipped his coffee from another. They stood by the table rather than sitting down, Aurum noticed. She could tell Argentum was annoyed by this by the way he tapped his fingers. It seemed they hadn't come as far as Draco yet.

"I need the three of you to get a pot of water." Lucius ordered. "We'll be going to a neighbor's tent tonight, so Argentum, you'll be holding down the fort." As an aside, he whispered to Narcissa, "I've put protective charms on everything, even Draco. So they can't burn the tent down, don't worry."

Argentum nodded weakly and rose from his seat with a confident air. Now that he was in his final year of Durmstrang, he seemed to carry himself with such a presence that other wizards seemed afraid of him now. He opened the flap of the tent and ushered the other teenagers out with Draco holding the water pot.

Aurum skipped in front with Draco trying to keep up and Argentum trailing behind much like a predator stalking prey, or at least, that's how passerby wizards seemed to look at him.

"How can you even see out of that mop of hair?" Draco chuckled.

"Well, it's only strands. Besides, it only covers half of my eyes." Aurum chipperly responded.

"I've tried to cut it, but it only grows back longer. That's why it's long in the front." Argentum's tone of speaking had clearly become dry and unfeeling since before.

"So how is Durmstrang? My father asked to send me, but my mother wasn't interested in the dark arts part." Draco turned towards the white-haired boy.

"It's truly amazing for learning the dark arts. It's a very purist environment as well." Argentum happily spoke. It was the only thing he really enthused about lately.

"Oh, well, I'm not into the purist movement like my parents." Draco shrugged.

When they reached the nearest pump, they spotted Harry, Ronald, and Hermione at the start of the line. Draco watched the brunette as she walked away with the boys. If Harry had noticed, he might have called Aurum out for staring so much. Aurum sensed that Hermione secretly liked the attention given to her. She often looked over her shoulder to smile at Draco.

"Hermione's beautiful. How does she keep up her appearance so?" Draco mused, hugging the pot to his chest.

"Isn't that the muggle-born that Aurum talks about?" Argentum asked.

"Yes, she's wonderful. If I could pick any girl to marry in Hogwarts, it would be her. She's just so caring and smart and funny." Draco smiled, probably thinking of her. "She likes reading as much as I do, and that's well enough for me."

"Why would you want to sully your pureblood with her?" Argentum criticized harshly.

Aurum turned around with a pale face. "Argentum! You can't say things like that! Not in public at least!" she chastised.

"I'll say what I please." Argentum crossed his arms and stood over his sister menacingly.

"What about mum? She was a muggle-born." Aurum asked.

"I've no idea to this day what made father decide to get with her." Argentum looked into the distance at the arena. "He may have been a squib, but at least I can pretend he was a pureblood. I can't do anything with Sapphire."

Aurum looked down at her champagne dress which her mother had gifted her before her untimely demise at the hands of a death eater. She rubbed the short sleeve and looked down at the grass beneath her feet.

"Well, I like Hermione. End of story." Draco mumbled, uncomfortable with all this family drama.

* * *

AN: all aboard the dramione train

all aboard the Argentum angst train

Choo choo


	25. Anti-Death Eaters

AN: this was my favorite book can you tell yet

* * *

Draco and Aurum ran into the woods away from the blazing scene back near the arena. Draco's parents had stayed behind to deal with them. Argentum was with Draco and Aurum, but somehow had managed to slip away.

Aurum stopped by a large oak, hyperventilating from running so hard. Draco stuck by her like a shadow, moving when she did, and stopping when she did. They stayed there for what felt like an eternity.

"I'm almost glad Gregory and Vincent couldn't come though it is odd they chose to go fishing with their parents over us. Makes you wonder." Draco snidely remarked.

"Well, I'm glad they're not here too. I'd hate for them to have to go through this." Aurum sighed.

The rustling of grass and breaking branches alerted them to the presence of the Gryffindor trio and some other Weasley's. They had been running as well.

"Malfoy! Creste! What are the odds we ran to the same spot?" Harry asked with his hands on his hips. Aurum could tell he was surmising something.

As soon as the words escaped Harry's mouth, a horrible mark appeared in the sky. It was the Dark Mark, a skull with a snake coming out of the mouth. Aurum shrunk into Draco's arms. The toothpick nearly stumbled over her dead weight.

"Merlin, who would ever fire that?" an elder Weasley asked, more confused than frightened.

Aurum nodded for them to leave the scene and she and Draco went further through the forest, Draco leading as he transformed into a wolf in order to slip through the branches. They didn't dare go in the direction of the arena or the Dark Mark. He quickly changed back because somehow, Argentum found the two.

"What're you two trying to do? Make out in the woods? That's how people get MTD's," Argentum said. He didn't quite appear to be joking, either.

"No, Argen, we're just trying to get away from that Dark Mark." Aurum rolled her eyes.

"Same here. I didn't care about the muggles down there, but I can't stand those Death Eaters. There's no stability with them. They're just a bunch of crazy people who think they can control everything just because they have one or two good ideas that a lot of others can agree with." Argentum huffed with a cold sweat running down his eyebrows.

"Argentum, does purism mean everything to you?" Draco asked, turning his head and squinting.

Argentum gave a weak smile. By his furrowed brow, you could see his shock that Draco would ask that, but he was happy to give the answer, "Yes."

Draco looked at Aurum who was cringing at the response. Neither gave a reply, they were silent.

"But you weren't down there with the Death Eaters, were you?" Aurum asked softly. She sounded as if she may cry. "You didn't fire off the—?"

"As much as I love messing with muggles, I don't like to associate myself with those maniacs." Argentum snickered. "I did misplace my wand, though. I hope no one picked it up."

The three walked back to the origin of the Dark Mark which had now faded. There were a couple aurors and many others from the ministry. The Gryffindor trio and Weasley's were still there with a few more of the redheads present now.

The first step Argentum took near the scene of the crime, an auror with sandy blonde hair stuck a wand to his neck. Argentum held nothing but fire in his eyes for the threatening man as he stared him down with a toothy smile. The auror backed off but not by much. Their eyes were still locked on each other.

"It's a shame, Creste. You could've been as great an auror as your father, but you practiced those damn dirty dark arts!" the auror growled. "I know it was you who did this! We've had too many run-ins. So just own up to it!"

Argentum stepped up to him and just barely knelt over the man, trying to make the short auror feel smaller than he already was. "I don't take the advice of idiots who think they can take down Death Eaters by pointing fingers." Argentum tapped his finger on the man's shoulder and walked away.

Aurum hopped over to Harry. "What actually happened here?" she asked.

"Winky, Mr. Crouch's elf was holding a wand that just sent off a Dark Mark." Harry explained. "They're really thinking it's your brother."

"He's not a Death Eater." Aurum groaned. "Why does everybody think that?"

"People associate purism with Death Eaters," Draco said. Aurum looked at him with an uneasy look and he shrugged.

The golden blonde turned away from the platinum and watched anxiously as her brother got into several verbal fights with the investigating ministry. This continued until Mr. Weasley, Ronald's father, stepped in.

He held out his hands to his side defensively as he stood beside Argentum. "I've known this boy since he was a small child, most of his family has been in the Order. I don't think he'd go against his parents like this," Mr. Weasley said.

"Yeah, whatever, Arthur. I've still got my eye on him," the sandy blonde auror said, muttering something very unkind under his breath. He pointed again at Argentum and shouted, "I'm contacting your grandmother! You can't cover this one up!"

"Alright, well, I'll see you in Azkaban, Bert." Argentum made a crude hand gesture.

Arthur put a shaky hand on a disgusted Argentum's shoulder. "You need to be careful around the ministry, they've really got it out for you now that you're an adult. Your grandmother's very worried."

"I couldn't care less. Now that I'm an adult, I get to live how _I_ like, and _I'd_ like to keep studying the dark arts." Argentum shook his hand off and went back to Draco and Aurum. He put his hands on their shoulders from behind.

* * *

AN: dark arts are for weebs


	26. Ex-friend

AN: don't get used to short chapters like this lmao

* * *

Hopping off the train, Aurum twirled, humming. Draco lugged her rooster's cage off of the platform with a groan.

"Can you please focus for more than a second, Creste? You know Crabbe and Goyle ditched us?" Draco moaned.

Aurum shrugged. "I'm sure they just got split up." she smiled. Draco pushed the cage into her arms with a big shove. She furrowed her brow and watched as he began to stomp away from the train and castle path. "Woah. Draco, are you... okay?" she turned to him with slouched shoulders and a very hurt expression. She laid her rooster's cage down gently.

"Stop it." Draco demanded, forcefully putting his foot down.

"What? What am I doing?" Aurum threw her arms to her sides.

Draco paced back and forth. He stared at the other students who followed the given road to the castle with a grimace. Seeing Aurum's wide grin, he couldn't help but smile a little, but he soon dropped it. "You're doing it again. You're making things seem better than they are."

"Greg and Vince just got separated from us, that's all, Draco." Aurum scoffed. "You're worrying over nothing."

"No I'm not, Creste! You just saw them walk away from us! They didn't talk to us for the whole train ride!" Draco shouted. Aurum cringed.

"Geez, Draco. Let all the wizards of Hogwarts hear you." Aurum huffed. "They were just too tired, Draco."

"I wouldn't lie to you. I know what they were doing." Draco got quieter. He turned his back on her. "And it was because of you." his voice held venom.

"What do you mean? Draco?" Aurum cried.

"They think you're a dirtblood and that I'm a blood-traitor."

"Don't say that." Aurum crossed her arms and shrunk away. Draco ran to her and brushed the hair out of her eyes.

"But I'm not going to leave you like that." Draco gave a weak smile.

Aurum pushed him away meekly, but he knew his boundaries and stepped off. "Greg wouldn't leave me." she put her arms around herself and turned away.

Draco groaned and quickly put his arms around her waist, awkwardly trying to hug her. "People grow apart. You can't keep fooling yourself—" he loosened his grip as she shifted under it. Aurum arranged her head in the crook of his neck. "—I'm sorry, but it's true. If you're going to hear it, I'd like for you to hear it from me."

They parted and Aurum picked up her rooster cage. They stood for a second together in solemn silence.

"We should be going. We're late and I need to feed Dragon." she lifted up the cage with a chuckle. Draco put his arm around her and led her towards the castle.

In the Great Hall, it was dark. A flutter of sapphire butterflies announced their entrance. Aurum giggled, but Draco pushed her towards the Slytherin table, realizing that they had hijacked the ending of the Beauxbatons grand opening before Aurum.

The two sat beside a tall and slender white-haired figure in brown, fur robes. He removed his glasses and squinted into Aurum's eyes, confused as to why she hadn't recognized him immediately. He smirked; it was Argentum.

He clapped a hand on Aurum's back and laughed loudly once her eyes shone in excited recognition. "Quill! This is my little sister, Aurum!" Argentum introduced her to a friend.

A sandy blonde boy sitting across from him and wearing the same outfit waved shyly. He pushed up his glasses, blushed carmine, and looked away as if trying to avoid any eye contact at all.

Argentum nodded. "That's my friend, Quilliam Peeper. We call 'im Quill. He's cool."

Aurum extended her hand across the lavishly food-adorned table with a wide smile. Quill took it, but only barely. He seemed to be focusing his attention somewhere else. Curiously, Aurum tried to look into his eyes. Noticeably, they were almost hot pink. She was almost becoming lost in them, but the boy rapidly turned his head as of reluctant to maintain any eye contact.

"Look over there." Draco mumbled, snapping her out of her apparent trance. He nodded his head towards ithe end of the table. He noisily crunched an apple, sneering at his object of attention.

Aurum gasped. Gregory and Vincent were hanging out with Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini. She puffed out her cheeks and groaned. She hid herself behind a large plate of steak.

"This would be better raw." Aurum commented. Argentum snickered, but Draco was genuinely confused. Aurum shrugged with a smile. "I like my steak raw."

* * *

AN: Quill totally has a big crush on Argentm

pass it on

jkjkjk


	27. Old Friend

AN: I kind of regret not writing the Beauxbatons part of Aurum's life but it wouldn't have fit in with all of this. Maybe in the future I'll write a prequel.

* * *

Aurum sat on a boulder just off the shore, juggling a pebble in her hand as Draco skipped rocks on the lakefront. She threw the pebble into the water with the force of a slingshot, but it didn't give much splash.

Draco was alerted by this and waded out to her rock. He climbed it with her helping him up. They sat together there and looked out at the Hogwarts Lake. The two watched as Gregory, Vincent, Pansy, and Blaise ran across the shoreline together. Gregory glanced at Aurum but did not stop. Aurum felt her heart skip a beat and her stomach flutter. Frustrated, she picked up a pebble and threw it into the lake forcefully.

"It's not your fault that they're idiots for ditching you." Draco assured her, leaning in her lap. Aurum wasn't sure it helped, she didn't want to see them as idiots per se.

Soon, a girl with a teal bobcut, a Beauxbatons uniform, and a camera around her neck bounced into view with her arms out to her side as she skipped towards the Slytherins. Aurum's face lit up and she ran to the other girl with open arms. Draco slipped off of the rock and trudged towards the two.

"Chantelle!" Aurum screamed, wrapping her arms around the other girl and spinning her around. She put her down, the two beaming at each other.

"Aurum Creste, you beautiful, majestic creature." Chantelle made a small smile. "How could you come into this castle and not say even say to me a 'hello'? A "bonjour" would have been nice, non? Explain, s'il vous plaît." she stomped. Her accent was extremely thick, but Aurum understood her very well.

"I didn't know! Why are you here though? Draco said that the ones chosen to be champions were coming. I never thought you'd want to do that." Aurum tilted her head.

"I'm the yearbooker! I'm taking pictures and putting them in the yearbook." Chantelle lifted up her camera. She looked back towards the castle. There was a flood of people coming back inside. "We better go to the dining hall, they must be announcing the Triwizard Tournament Champions."

"I suppose they are." Draco stepped in, looking at the crescent moon. "It's weird though, Creste. I never thought you'd be friends with a seventh year."

"Yeah, well, I was a fourth year at the time and a prefect. She got into so much trouble that we ended up becoming friends." Chantelle shrugged.

"Well, I'm closer to her age." Draco mumbled to no one in particular.

The three ran into the Great Hall. Aurum and Draco were dashing towards their Slytherin table, but Chantelle grabbed Aurum's hand, tugging her over to the Ravenclaw table, and Aurum grabbed Draco's hand. They sat between two Beauxbatons students.

Dumbledore stood tall and held up the Goblet of Fire, the cup that decided the Champions of each school. "Without further ado, the Triwizard Tournament Champions! Beauxbatons, Fleur Delacour!"

Applause erupted from their table. Draco put his hands in his robes, but Aurum had no problem clapping, she'd known of Fleur beforehand since they had went to the same school for a year. Chantelle whooped and hollered for Fleur though the other clapping from the table was minimal and polite. Her camera flashed repeatedly as she took multiple pictures of the smiling French gal.

"Durmstrang, Argentum Creste!"

The students of the Scandinavian school threw their cups into the sky for a large toast, yelling and screaming for Argentum. His face was as red as a beet, Aurum noted as she had sat behind him.

"Hogwarts, Cedric Diggory!"

No applause or shouting could beat the Hufflepuff table. Cedric received eager handshakes upon handshakes, table-wide toasts, louder than loud whistles, deep and guttural bellowings of his name, among other ear-bursting noises. Some even ripped off their shirts in revelry.

The Goblet didn't stop there, no. One more name slipped out of the cup, and Dumbledore hesitantly read it aloud.

"Hogwarts, Harry Potter..."

"Woo! Go Harry!"

Draco jabbed Aurum sharply in the side. All else was silent.

* * *

AN: oh god Argentum is now a Gary Stu because he has taken Krum's place!

I'd love to not have reactions like this. Worse bombs to canon will be set off later on, so don't get your knickers in a twist just yet!

(Also Hufflepuff pride ftw)


	28. Jealous

AN: feels trips just keep snaking their way into this fic

* * *

For days she had been trailing the boy of her dreams. Not Harry, he was too out of her reach, but her ex-bestie. Aurum was going to befriend Gregory again.

The boy had been all over the place with what seemed to be his new pack, one could say. He had abandoned her for a while, but she desperately wanted him back.

There were times of strain when he had accused her brother of unspeakable actions, but she had gotten over it. She knew it was just his overprotectiveness. And who could blame him? She felt the same way about him that he did her.

Gregory had been keeping to himself for most of the summer, but Aurum would be damned if she didn't bring him out of his shell to her.

Aurum awaited his coming to the Slytherin common room from the dorms all morning on the couch by the fire. They had arranged this when she had caught him in a library without his new friends. Alone, they could talk, but Aurum had no idea why they needed to be by themselves. She must have dozed off on the couch for a bit because he suddenly appeared next to her draped in a bathrobe when no one else had even bothered to have roused themselves. But she knew he was always an early riser.

The blonde weakly smiled and looked down at the mahogany blanket she was draped in. "It's been a while."

"And it will be a while again." Gregory murmured.

"Why is that so?" she asked, slightly pouting.

"We've got to go our separate ways already, Aura." Gregory shook his head. "I tried to rip the bandage away before you could even tell it was coming off."

"But why?" Aurum burst out.

"My parents want me to cut ties. If You-Know-Who came back, I could get caught up in his wrath against muggles. I've fought them for almost a decade but now they've gone and done this." Gregory stood and removed his robe. Besides his bare nakedness, all Aurum could focus on was the huge swirl on his back. It was a Cruciatus Scar, one of the largest she had ever seen. "Every time I fight, it hurts. They only did it this once on accident, but it's lasting. It was as if they had a flashback—they called me _Ruby_."

Aurum clapped and hand to her mouth and began to sob. Ruby was her father who had died to protect her and Argentum from Death Eaters long ago.

Gregory tied his robe back and knelt down to hug her. "Listen, just remember that I love you." Gregory tore away from her grasp suddenly as he screamed out in pain. His deep voice was hoarse and agonizing. Aurum cried louder at this, clenching her blanket to herself.

Gregory struggled to rise to his feet. He gave a weak smile and allowed himself to tear up at the pain. "Just smile that golden grin of yours and you'll be fine. Forget about me."

And like that, he was gone. Aurum crumbled into a dark sadness, wrapped in an enigma of pain that, like a scar, would never heal.

Never had she ever felt hatred and jealousy for anybody, but now it was all she could feel for Gregory's parents, and Pansy, Blaise, and Vincent. How could the parents of a child torture them so, even on "accident". It was sick and twisted even if it was for some sort of protection. Was Voldemort so serious that he would just kill a kid for hanging out with his best friend? And how dare the Slytherins revel in the happiness of Gregory. He was hers to enjoy and hers alone. No matter what happened to split them, she felt they were attached at the soul. His new friends didn't match up to her, she thought. But, seeing as how she caused him pain... maybe it was for the best.

Alone, Aurum watched the four from her perch on the tallest rock by the Hogwarts Lake. They seemed to happy in their strides. It created sparks of envy and loneliness within her. Today was a day when Draco stayed in bed, hurt by the betrayal of his friends as well. Aurum couldn't help but feel that she was part of the problem. She looked away.

"Aura!"

Aurum quickly turned, only to see Chantelle. She wasn't necessarily disappointed, but not extremely happy. She knew it couldn't be Gregory, but for some reason, there was a glimmer of hope.

"Hey, Channie." Aurum struggled to make a smile.

Chantelle climbed towards the top of the boulder, helped up by Aurum past the edge. She laughed, catching her breath and focused her attention on Aurum.

"Where's your boyfriend?" Chantelle tittered.

"He's not my— well, he's just sleeping in. Our friends don't really hang out with us anymore." Aurum sighed.

"Oh, what happened?" Chantelle asked, extremely concerned. When Aurum explained it, Chantelle brought her hands to her arms, probably trying to think of how to soothe her friend. "I'm sorry. You must feel like this is all your fault. Have you told Draco?"

"I plan on it. I can't keep anything from him anymore." Aurum shook her head, remembering her first year.

"Perhaps it's for the best." Chantelle put her arm around Aurum. "Give him his space at the least. Merlin knows he needs it. When he's ready, maybe he'll come back to you. Maybe the pain will be gone. It's not your fault honey, it's just a matter of circumstance. For now, just hope that he's happy."

Aurum and Chantelle watched on as Gregory laughed with Vincent, Blaise, and Pansy walking along the lake. As long as he was happy, she was too.

* * *

AN: so I imagine that Unforgivable Curses can leave scars if done to destroy some kind of love, loved one, etc. That's why I use it here and in Chosen Ones. I think it's a great symbol of protecting someone you love. The Snowwhiteshipping is certainly strong in this one.

annnnnnnd you can form your own opinions on Gregory's parents and their treatment of him, I'm not trying to suggest anything other than their ties to you-know-who and that what they did was super wrong. Not making them sympathetic, maniacally evil, or otherwise so I'm just staying out of it. Please leave me out of it.


	29. Not the Object of Attention

AN: has anyone noticed that Argentum is my favorite character

also reviews would be nice

* * *

Sometimes, Argentum was a mess. Other times he was a jerk. Now, standing in the Champions' tent awaiting his challenge with the Chinese Fireball, he was a narcissist.

In his protective tank, Argentum flexed his biceps(which weren't all there), and showed off his pearly whites(which held a yellow tinge). Rita Skeeter and her cameraman ate it all up of course.

"Yeah, I've handled loads of dragons in Durmstrang before. They're super cool, but if you get used to them, they're kind of like overgrown cats." Argentum made use of his silver tongue which rolled words off like song lyrics.

"Tell me about one of your experiences." Rita pursued the topic.

"Okay, so there was this huge dragon, it was a Golden Galloper, and like, we got to take care of them with a partner each so I had to feed, bathe, and pet it. All by myself, too. My partner was sick." Argentum nodded as he bit his cheeks. At this, Aurum was cut up as she sat in the back with Harry, laughing like it was a stand-up comedy routine.

Quill, who was sitting on the bed behind him looked up at the white-haired boy inquisitively. He blushed profusely as he rebutted, "Argentum, I was your partner. You're allergic to dragons so you festered up with the pox and I had to take over complete control of the dragon." Suddenly, he grinned widely. "I love dragons. I'd love to do this. They're such babies." he ducked his head in embarrassment.

This time, Aurum and Harry both laughed extremely loudly. Argentum swung his head in their direction and his cheeks flamed a deep red.

"Is what he's saying true?" Rita asked. By her tone, it was obvious she didn't believe Quill.

"No, of course not. I've known Quill all my life. He's a pathological liar. He can't help it. I did it all myself, I swear," Argentum said between his teeth to Quill who backed off quick and meek-like.

Aurum sighed, tired from laughing so hard at her older brother. She looked over at the boy sitting beside her with a dreamy expression. "Quilliam is so cute." she sighed again, this time for effect.

"He's very much like myself in terms of build and hairstyle." Harry noted. "So he's okay, I guess."

Aurum nodded. "He's more than okay, he's a hunk."

"Not sure if I'd describe him that way." Harry shrugged. "He's scrawny and seems kind of like a wimp."

"He's smart as a tack though, according to Argen. So he's got that going for him." Aurum wiggled her eyebrows.

"Whatever you say." Harry chuckled.

Aurum huffed quietly. She failed her mission to make Harry jealous. She'd have to try at a later date. Or maybe...

"I think he likes me." Aurum burst out. By this time the boy had departed for the Slytherin dungeons and Argentum had gone out to face off against the Chinese Fireball. Only Harry, Cedric, and Fleur remained in the room besides she.

"Good for you." Harry smiled sincerely.

Aurum screamed on the inside.

Just a few minutes later, her brother was rushed back into the tent. He had bumps and warts, the sizes ranging from golf to tennis balls. He was red and puffy all over, not to mentioned paralyzed neck down.

Aurum and Harry hied to his bedside, the former screaming for fear he might die. "Argen! I thought you weren't allergic!" Aurum whined.

"I thought so too." Argentum coughed hard. He laid his head the other way, trying to rest as the paramedics did all they could to arrange a way for him to heal.

Aurum laid on a bed beside his and Harry sat on the side. Both stared at Argentum with wide eyes, wondering if he'd be okay. The medics assured them he would be. Eventually, everyone left, including Harry.

When they were gone, Argentum rose quickly, startling Aurum. With a wave of his wand, all of the pox was gone.

"That spell made it really hard to talk." Argentum massaged his jaw.

Aurum hopped off of her bed and stared, appalled. She barely made a sound against the crowd roaring for Harry. She shook her head and laid against the bed.

"You cheated."

"I forfeited. Things got too real. I was literally in the dragon's maw."

"You weaseled your way out of the match!" Aurum raised her voice and pointed outside the tent.

"We both know I didn't want to sign up, Aurum. You know me. I thought that if I signed up, it'd make me look good. It's too much trouble." Argentum waved his hands. "Anyway, this'll be over before the next challenge, so hopefully that one will be better."

"You suck."

"You blow."

* * *

AN: note, he isn't kicked out of the tournament because forfeiting a challenge is just forfeiting. I mean, they're not going to kick you off a team because you decided to boycott a game or something. Besides they don't really have a way to tell if he actually forfeited anyway.


	30. Someone Else's Crush

AN: review if you want Aurum to be happy 5ever like me and my Cinderellashipping

* * *

Aurum was absolutely beaming that day like a ray of sunshine. Nothing could cloud it, she was that positively happy and bursting to the brim with grins and flowery messages for all. At the rate she was going, she could lighten anybody's day.

Today was the day she would ask Harry Potter, the bravest, most kind boy to the Yule Ball. Draco had already asked Hermione who had to refuse due to an earlier invitation(Aurum helped to mend his pride), and Ronald Weasley had attempted to ask Aurum for—something, he was stuttering and stammering so hard she couldn't truly figure out what he meant, but Aurum was bound to ask Harry.

It had been her dream since she was younger to date and then marry the boy. She had heard the wild stories Pearl Creste had spun about him and his parents. About James and Lily's adventures and that one day Aurum might be like that with Harry. In fact, she already had names picked out. Perhaps Ruby Remus Potter? Or Sirius Gregory Potter? Perhaps even Sapphire Chantelle Potter. She didn't know, it hadn't happened yet. She wished time could fly and unite them soon.

But for today, she had to settle for a date to a dance. Hermione who had been talking to Draco after his question informed Aurum that Harry was at the Owlery. She forgot to mention something, however. It simply slipped her mind.

Harry was asking another girl.

Aurum and the rest of the HPFC were not very fond of Cho Chang, the fifth year Ravenclaw. She was in their way, and though Aurum did attempt to stop more of the nasty things from being said and spread, she wasn't able to curb their minds to her thinking pattern of the girl whom she thought was just not someone who'd be interested in Harry. That was that.

Nevertheless, Aurum bounced up the stairs to the Owlery tower. It was there that her heart dropped. She had expected to see Harry alone, not with Cho. The blonde hid behind a tower and listened into the conversation.

"I'd like to invite you to the Yule Ball—as my date, I mean." Harry chuckled awkwardly. Aurum loved that breathless chuckle of his.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Harry, but I can't go. Not with you, at least." Cho apologized, making Aurum perk up again. "Cedric already asked."

"Okay. That's fine." Harry ended the conversation with a sting of pain, leaving Cho to descend the stairs back to the halls.

Aurum took the opportunity to stop Harry on his way down. She slid between the two seamlessly. She pushed the hair out of her eyes so that she could see his almond-emerald eyes and he could see her gumdrop-chocolate ones.

"Hey, Harry Potter, Triwizard Champion! How are you?" she asked with enough pep in her voice to make a cheerleader keel over. Confusing her completely, Harry looked aggravated at this.

"If you're getting ready to ask me out just so you can go with a champion, you can forget it. For the last time, no!" Harry squinted, his voice powerful. "I don't care if you want to be the belle of the ball, I'm not interested in anybody else's fantasies!"

Aurum stepped back, stumbling a little as she fell a step. Her expression was hurt and fully unaware of whatever it was he was talking about. She couldn't even speak. Instead, she cried and ran off, leaving him atop the stairs despite his calls for her to come back.

There she lay in the Slytherin common room, her head in a pillow. She had stopped crying after her brother(who miraculously was cured of his dragon pox) called her a crybaby. She wasn't afraid to admit that. Draco took offense, however, and stunned Argentum. Aurum was strangely okay with this.

Suddenly, Draco sat on Aurum's hindend. She let out a shriek of being startled moreso than hurt.

"I'm not getting up until you get over him." Draco threw his head up with a pretentious air.

"He's just so perfect, Draco! He's a really nice guy." she complained. "He just got rejected, give him a break."

"No he's not! He sucks. I'm not giving him anything. Didn't you see that stupid professor turn me into a ferret for him?" Draco spat.

"Well, right after that you turned into a wolf and nearly bit his head off, so I don't think you lost too much pride." Aurum laughed.

"He slipped me down your blouse, Aurum." Draco growled, completely serious. Aurum managed to sneak a snicker without his notice.

"It was funny." Aurum mumbled, blushing.

"Creste, he's caused me so much strife. I hate him and he hates me." Draco moaned.

"Maybe if we date, I can be the bridge. Wouldn't you like to be friends with someone famous?"

"Not one who flaunts it. That Goblet was rigged."

"Obviously. Still, I think he's nice, and maybe if you got to know him like on a double date with Hermione, we could all be friends."

"Are you suggesting a new pack?" Draco bore a wide and cunning grin.

"Perhaps."

"I like the cut of your jib, Creste. Nevertheless, he was a massive jerk to you." Draco's mood became sour. "I don't think I could be friends with someone who made you cry."

"I cry at everything." Aurum rolled her eyes.

"True, true." Draco nodded, thinking. "Still, he was rude, and I'm not letting you date him." Draco rose to his feet.

Aurum sat up, massaging her bottom. "Okay, dad." she sassed.

Draco pointed to her as he walked out of the portrait. "That's Mr. Malfoy to you," he said.

Aurum managed a smile and bounced away with him to the library where Draco was wanting to check out another muggle book. He was going to try Of Mice and Men since he had heard it was about a spoiled friendship. Aurum somehow got the feeling that it might actually be all sunshine and rainbows.

Once they had gotten to the library and settled down, Argentum sat across from the two with a loud plop as he nestled himself into his seat. The other two were quite taken aback.

"Aur, what's your cute friend's name?" Argentum asked in a hurry. He was sweating profusely and must have run a long way to catch up. "Sorry, I'm not used to running. We just apparate everywhere in Durmstrang."

"Well, apparently this is Draco, my future brother-in-law." Aurum joked, putting a hand on Draco's shoulder.

"No, your Beauxbatons friend. Her name? She's pureblood?"

"Chantelle Chandeliere. Yes, the Chandeliere family is a famous French pureblooded family." Draco answered before Aurum could open her mouth.

"Okay, I like her, then. I'm taking her to the ball."

"You're just going to take her to the ball because she's friends with me?" Aurum asked, baffled.

"Of course! I've had so many girls—and guys—who have asked me to the ball. It was just like, man, I want to go with someone I know at least a little bit. Not some random Hogwarts girl who thinks she can get on the arm of a Champion because it'll make her look cool." Argentum explained.

Aurum looked down at the table, pondering over Harry who had the same situation. "Yeah, I see." she looked back up at her brother. "So you need a letter of recommendation or something?"

"No, I can find her with a spell unless she's protected herself. That's the beauty of dark arts. Reveals people's secrets no matter how illegal." Argentum set off to find Chantelle.

As Draco and Aurum neared the Slytherin common room, they spotted Harry Potter by his lonesome in front of the portrait.

"Pureblood!" Harry shouted.

The portrait rolled her eyes. "For the last time, Mr. Potter, the passwords change every week and today it is just not 'pureblood'!" she stomped a heeled foot. "Go back to Gryffindor or wait on those Slytherins!" she waved him away.

Harry turned around to see the Slytherins she spoke of. He smiled at Aurum, but dropped it as soon as he remembered what he did to her.

"Um, look, I know I was a jerk earlier—" Harry started, scratching the back of his head.

"Yes, that's very accurate." Draco crossed his arms, his eyes fiery.

"Aurum, I'd just like to say I'm sorry for the outburst and the more I thought about it, I realized that you're not the type to ask someone out because they're famous." Harry apologized. Aurum nodded though she had to admit, deep down that was a part of it.

"It's okay." Aurum shrugged with a small smile.

"So would you like to go with me to the ball?" Harry tried to hide part of his blushing cheeks by putting a hand over it.

Aurum stepped forward, but Draco pulled her back. "Don't take his pity. I know he was under stress but that was no excuse for him to lash out at you like that." he harshly whispered, worry in his voice and silver eyes.

"Draco, I'm never going to get this chance again." Aurum begged.

"Fine." he let her go, his expression understanding.

Aurum walked up to Harry. She grinned from ear to ear as she said, "No."

* * *

AN: I wish I could do that. I asked my crush out and he didn't even go to the party because the girl he asked out told him no. He told me she said yes when I asked him. Then he later told me she said no. Crushes suck.


	31. Dancing Queen

AN: so this is love. hmm hmm hmm hmm

* * *

Argentum strutted into the Slytherin common area in a very handsomely sparkling silver tuxedo and white bow tie. On his arm was Chantelle in a long black ballgown. The word to describe the two was certainly extravagant.

It was odd how they got together. It was only on Chantelle's conditions. The three were that one, they would meet up with Aurum after the party; two, they would not discuss purism; and three, absolutely nothing illegal would happen. Argentum reluctantly agreed. Aurum later found out that he was planning on switching out the punch to gigglewater. Tame compared to what he usually did, the prank seemed so unlike him, but Aurum thought it best not to question him.

Draco sat on the edge of the couch, twiddling his thumbs. He was wearing a nice suit with a lime corsage, but he had to settle for a girl he wanted nothing to do with romantically. Not Pansy Parkinson because she was taken by Gregory, and not Astoria Greengrass who had asked him because he shot her down. She had absolutely beautiful features, but her cranium was unoccupied. He didn't wait for either because when they came down in their champagne and chartreuse dresses respectively, he paid no attention. Draco truly awaited Aurum Creste, who was undoubtedly his best friend and nothing more.

The girl with the golden blonde descended the steps from the girls' dorm. It seemed she was the last done getting ready. She didn't wear anything besides mascara and eyeshadow, but her face looked like a painting, the eyeshadow painting a beautiful scene of the night sky. Her gilded locks were hoisted into a bun which dropped wavy strands to the sides. She donned a ballroom dress completely gold and glittering. Her hand held a ring of silver topped with an emerald. Looking at the way she dressed, you would've thought her a princess that night.

Draco stood as soon as she appeared. His breath was taken away by her whole outfit. "You look more and more amazing every time I see you." he kissed a gloved hand. He and Aurum laughed at his formality.

"Well, Draco, are you going to take me to the ball?" Aurum gave a dainty smile as she looked into his silver eyes.

The boy just stared at her with a red face. When he regained himself, he managed to shout, "What—yeah, yeah, of course!"

With Aurum's brother and his date, she and Draco left the Slytherin common room.

"So are we meeting up at Hogsmeade after this?" Aurum asked the group. "I'd prefer The Three Broomsticks if we are."

"Hog's Head is always great." Draco suggested.

"Too many weirdos hang out there," Aurum said.

"Sure, but that's the fun of it, I think." Draco rolled his eyes, a faint pink on his cheeks.

"What is the difference in food and drink?" Argentum asked.

"They both have butterbeer, it's mainly the aesthetic." Aurum perkily. "Three Broomsticks is much more inviting."

"Yes, but rarely do celebrities come there. They prefer Hog's Head because there's not much traffic, so it's great to see people like that." Draco noted.

"But where is everyone hanging out after the ball?" Chantelle asked. "I have to get as many pictures for the yearbook as I can."

"Three Broomsticks, then." Aurum waved a finger. "We'll all meet up there."

Just before Aurum could even so much as take a breath, Draco dragged her towards a window, much to Chantelle's surprise. She and Argentum stopped and stared. Aurum widened her eyes at Draco, under the pressure.

"Do you realize what you're saying? People who are going to get suspicious if they don't see us." Draco whispered angrily.

"Hopefully our meetup won't spread. Our secret is just as secret as ever. We just won't show up." Aurum shrugged. Draco shook his head and allowed her to rejoin with the rest of the group. The two blushed profusely whenever Aurum's brother asked if they had kissed. Draco fired back, asking if he had kissed Chantelle. When he replied that he had, Chantelle smacked him across the face because they hadn't, truthfully.

The ball was decorated like it was a palace out of a movie. Of course it _was_ a castle, but it seemed almost pristinely chrome and glass compared to the rotting brick and mortar. Ribbons hung from the roof which held a picture of the night sky and full moon. The tables had gone except for one which held confections, and the teachers' table had been turned into a turntable.

Harry brought his date, Parvati Patil, to the front of the room where the champions were being announced with their dates. Fleur had taken a Beauxbatons seventh year that Aurum didn't recognize and Cedric had taken Cho, much to Harry's obvious jealousy. Aurum stood with Draco awaiting their turn at the dance floor.

They moved out onto the dance floor, just the champions for one song which seemed to be classical music that Aurum didn't recognize. While the other champions had an easy time dancing with their date whom they seemed to have good chemistry with, Harry had two left feet and didn't appear interested in Parvati, though it might have just been Aurum's jealousy-infused instincts.

Finally, when Aurum thought she could stand still no longer, the champion's dance was done and everybody could now move onto the floor. Harry sat down immediately and watched with regretful eyes as Draco led Aurum to the dance floor with the most enthusiastic smile anybody ever had.

The first song played was "I Wanna Dance With Somebody". Muggle music was very popular with most wizards, and those who weren't accepting of them at least tried to cover the songs in order to have just as much fame in the wizarding community. Aurum hoped they would play more as the night went on.

Aurum didn't claim to be the best dancer. She knew how to ballroom dance well, but anything else was lost on her. When in doubt, her grandmother told her, shake your hips. That's what she did, and Draco being the same way, twisted on with her. They were the some of the worst dancers that night, but nothing could have ruined it.

After a couple of songs, they played a slow one. Aurum knew this would be her last. "So This is Love" had almost everyone rising to their feet to dance with their dates. Notably, humorous and fun-loving Ronald sat fuming with his date, Padma Patil, but sourpuss Pansy Parkinson was dancing with Vincent. Aurum caught sight of Vincent giving her a wink which made her blood curl.

Harry Potter stood without his date and walked towards Aurum. She felt her heart flutter and her stomach drop. She wasn't prepared to see him try to make a move on her. Draco stood by her defensively.

Draco pushed Harry back from Aurum. "She's not dancing with you, you prat." he shouted over the music. He turned to Aurum, mumbling, "It could have _literally_ been anybody else, Creste."

"That's for her to decide! I'm just trying to be nice," Harry said coolly, throwing up his hands.

"Who do you want to dance with?" Draco whipped around to Aurum, a frustrated look in his eye.

She knew Draco wanted to dance with her because they were friends and was offended that Harry wanted to dance with her after turning her down and being turned down in return. Harry confused her though. Was he really doing this out of pity? Did he pity her? Or was there something to it? There was only one way to find out.

"I'll dance once, Harry. I must be going at midnight." Aurum looked out of the corner of her eye at the large clock above the turntable.

Draco threw his corsage on the ground and stomped off to sit down. He watched the pair intensively from where he sat. Aurum couldn't help but feel terrible for Draco's loss, but this was something she might never do again. Draco was her best friend, and their previous dance will not have been their last.

Harry held his hands out. Aurum took them in hers and the two began to dance, moving in a circle pattern with her leading. They put their left hands to their sides and held the other in the air as they spun. Then, they rejoined and Harry twirled her with a finger. Most of their moving was moving their feet back and forth in a circle with a hand on the hip, on the shoulder, and the right hands clasped.

It was like three minutes of heaven. There was not a moment when Aurum's smile dropped. Movement seemed to easy in his hands and with her guidance. Everything wrong with the night dissolved. Her heart was locked on this boy and she feared she may never give him up.

The moment seemed just right, and she brought her lips to his. It just seemed so easy. He couldn't refuse and had no qualms, but when they parted, nothing was initiated again.

The song ended, allowing a slightly faster song, "Wham Bam", to come on. It was then that the clock struck midnight rather dramatically, almost as if it were fate.

Aurum's heart was in her throat as she held up her dress and ran for the door to the Great Hall. There was a commotion behind her as Harry gave chase and screams of "wolf! wolf!" in the Great Hall.

Beside her Draco turned back into himself and tackled her off of a first floor window. From there they rushed to get to the Whomping Willow. Aurum, in the middle of changing, ripped her dress off and threw it on the ground along with one slipper because she couldn't get the other off no matter how hard she tried.

A silvery-blonde wolf emerged from Draco's figure as he hopped between the swinging Whomping Willows branches to try to stop them. Once they ceased their batting, Aurum ran into the entrance beneath it with Draco.

She managed to get through the door in front of Draco before beginning her transformation. The other blonde went to go ward off Harry's prying eyes.

As the werewolf emerged, Aurum's memory faded into darkness.

* * *

AN: no, im never doing a werewolf chapter where she and Draco hang out as wolves. I've tried, it's really awkward and dumb. They probably just hung out at Hogsmeade scaring the crap out of everybody.


	32. Professional Secretkeeper

AN: i wonder if molly and pearl still ship sleepingbeautyshipping

* * *

On the radio gifted to her by Remus Lupin, Aurum switched the station to something playing "Angel of the Morning". After finding what she deemed to be a good song, she turned to lay on her back and rest her arms on her chest, staring up at the ceiling.

Draco knocked on the open door and walked in hesitantly. He brought with him a couple armfuls of Christmas presents and a warm smile to go along with them. "It's a good three days late, but I hope this is okay." Draco chuckled.

"Are those all for me?" Aurum sat up against the bed post, surprised by the amount. They were small but many.

"I opened all of mine back at the castle when I picked them all up except for this one." Draco replied, holding out a small box the size of his palm. It was wrapped in silver and adorned with a green bow.

"Good. That one's from me." Aurum winked.

She pulled her knees up to her chest and allowed Draco to put the presents beside her to her right. He sat himself on her bed and began to tear away at the silver present. Inside was a black box, and inside that box was a purely silver ring with a square-cut emerald atop it.

Draco looked as if he might tear up at the gift. He looked at Aurum adoringly. "I can't believe you got me this. It's wonderful." He slipped the ring on. It fit like a glove.

"I got myself one and I thought you might like it." Aurum waved a hand to show off her version of the ring.

The blondes pulled each other into a hug that lasted longer than any other either had ever experienced. When they inevitably pushed away, it was not by choice but by fear of it being too awkward to go further.

Aurum began opening other presents. A couple were from her grandmother, a new Firebolt and a frying pan. There was a joint gift from Lupin and Sirius, a picture frame which was painted like a starry night above a forest. One was from Molly Weasley whom her grandmother, Pearl, was well acquainted with, a sweater with an A on it. She usually got hats from her, so this was a step up. Another present was from Gregory, surprisingly. Aurum felt herself grin like a possum when she saw how he had gotten her her favorite book, To Kill a Hippogriff.

"Oh no," Draco said, peering down at the gift.

"What's wrong? I think it's a sign he likes me again." Aurum beamed hopefully. She dropped it for a second, realizing he could never speak to her again. Then, seeing Draco's worried expression, she smiled again, recalling Gregory's plea to forget him. She realized he had been smart that way.

"It's nothing to do with that, it's just that I got you the same thing." Draco mumbled after a good bit of silence.

"I don't mind having two." Aurum shrugged with a dopey grin. "More to read for me!"

The two Slytherins departed the Whomping Willow for the lake where they would spend the rest of the day in their sweaters, beanies, and scarves, bundled up and protected against the coming winter cold.

Draco sat upon the rocky cliff overlooking the lake with Aurum leaning against his shoulder, snuggled in her Weasley sweater which she was grateful to finally receive after being a family friend for so long. Draco at some point put his arm around her, blanketing the girl with his cloak.

"Hey! Lovebirds!"

Draco and Aurum turned their heads to see Gregory, Vincent, Blaise, and Pansy. It was Pansy who yelled at the two in her shrill voice.

"What are you guys doing here?" Aurum asked, unable to mask her jealousy. She couldn't hide her hurt at seeing Gregory with the other three without her.

"We came to see how you all were holding up by yourselves. And, we've been hearing rumors." Blaise explained.

"Like what? That we're dating?" Draco snickered, looking at Aurum. They were strictly friends as far as they were concerned. "We've heard it all before."

"No, Draco, that you're hanging out with a dirtblood werewolf." Pansy pointed at Aurum with a twisted smile.

Aurum clutched her heart and looked down at Draco's lap. She was destroyed that anyone could hold such hatred for a group of people who are so torn apart about having the lycanthropy in the first place. This wasn't what she had expected to hear to be concerned with her. The dirtblood thing hadn't stung for a while.

"What's wrong with being a werewolf? Or a quarterblood for that matter? They're just as human as we are!" Draco stood on the rock with his wand out.

"They're freaks of nature, Malfoy! Don't you know?" Blaise scoffed. By this time, he and the other three had whipped out their wands.

"Draco, stand down. It's okay. I'm used to this." Aurum looked up at the other blonde wearily.

Draco squinted down into her eyes. It was an injustice he was bound to correct. He cupped his hands and yelled, "Pansy Parkinson a skimpy squib!"

Pansy gasped with a hand on her chest and looked wide-eyes at the boys surrounding her. "That is absolutely not true. How would you even know that?" she asked, breathless, for his words took it away.

"Sometimes you shouldn't trust your secrets to others." Draco stared daggers through Vincent who grimaced in return. Gregory wouldn't have told and it had left only one other suspect.

"If you're going to just sit there and tell lies, there's no point in even trying to recruit you back to our pack. You can stay with cruddy Creste, no one cares." Pansy huffed and led the three boys back to the castle.

Draco sat back down on the rock, watching as the other Slytherins departed, specifically Vincent. Aurum leaned on him again, staring after the quartet, specifically Gregory, tiredly.

"I don't blame you, Creste." Draco muttered, taking a pebble from the boulder and pitching it into the lake. "It's not your fault that his parents are prats. I just wish we weren't caught up in it." he put his hand on Aurum's. "I'm not leaving you, ever."

The two stared out across the water at the horizon's setting sun.

"So is it true? Pansy is a squib?" Aurum asked.

"Of course. Wouldn't say it otherwise. Just wanted her to leave you alone." Draco muttered, dragging his fingers against the boulder's hard texture.

"Don't tell other's secrets for me, Draco. Please." Aurum sighed.

"Fine—" Draco peered down at her sweater momentarily. "—Mrs. Weasley."

Aurum slightly pushed the blonde out of mild annoyance and they began play-fighting atop the rock.

* * *

AN: they do

but im shipping princessfrogshipping so

also sorry for such a long wait! Had some trouble with my beta, but we're all good now! Thank you, worththerisks for still betaing this all the way through thirty chapters! I'm so grateful to have someone to help me with the characters and storyline!


	33. In the Arms of a Gryffindor

AN: for the rest of the story, I'm still pretty much going along with the books because there's integral information not in the movies, but this is an exception where I think the movie makes more sense with Neville and the Gillyweed.

* * *

Argentum shuffled his hands, leaned with his hindquarters sticking out, and took a diving leap off of the dock and into the Hogwarts Lake at the sound of the gun. A shark fin later appeared where he had transfigured himself. He had gotten the idea from Victor Krum who Argentum was eavesdropping on while he was talking to another Durmstrang student. He'd never willingly talk to Krum. Since being chosen as the Durmstrang champion, no one from the school besides Quill would talk to Argentum. An air of jealousy and superiority surrounded the school's students as if they were aware of Argentum's blood status unbeknownst to him.

Aurum(who was again wearing her sweater from from Christmas) and Draco sat in the crowd with the Harry Potter Fan Club lined up next to Aurum. None could hardly contain their excitement. Aurum and Draco rooted strongly for Argentum despite his forfeiting tendencies and not being Harry Potter like the rest of the HPFC wanted.

Neville stepped into his seat between Ginny and Aurum with a horrible look on his face. He was absolutely mortified.

"What happened, Longbottom? Take a dump in the lake and get noticed?" Draco jeered.

"I think I just killed Harry Potter." Neville admitted nervously, his hand clutching his heart.

"Good on you, mate. Didn't think you had it in you. Doing the school a big favor." Draco nodded happily. Aurum elbowed his arm, sending a death glare his way.

"What did you do?" Aurum inquired.

Neville stammered for quite a while before finally managing out, "I gave him Gillyweed, but I don't if it really worked, I mean—"

All were silent with shock and awe as a boy with fins for feet and webbed hands sprang out of the water like a dolphin. On his way down, cheers and applause sprouted up through the stands, being especially strong at the HPFC.

"What an entrance!" Aurum laughed out of surprise at the sight.

"He sure knows how to do that." Draco grumbled.

A few minutes later, the Durmstrang crowd erupted in cheer as Argentum came back with a shivering Chantelle. He had transfigured back and was now handing her off to the tent to get dried. After a short talk with the judges, he followed her.

Next, Cedric Diggory came back up with Cho Chang, bursting the bubble he had created around himself. Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and Slytherins alike put their hands together for this man.

Then, surprising the entire audience, Fleur came back with nobody. She was freaking out on the docks as they rushed her to get towels. She refused, wanting to stay to see what might happen to whoever was down there for her.

Almost an hour after Fleur had come up, Harry emerged from the lake, toting Ronald and who seemed to be Fleur's sister from what Aurum remembered. By the time they broke the surface of the water, the two could breathe so they ended up swimming some of it on their own so Harry didn't have to carry so much weight.

The HPFC and Draco rushed down through the stands to greet Harry and congratulate him, for the judges had decided to call his place second for being so kind as to save others and not just his own friend.

Harry was still resting at the edge of the dock, half his body submerged in the water. He smiled up at Aurum as she came to greet him on her knees.

"That was great! I can't believe you managed to save both! So what were the mermaids like?" Aurum asked giddily.

"Awful. How did you all know about this?" Harry asked, furrowing his brow.

"They have an announcer, you know." Aurum shrugged as if it should have been obvious to him.

"So what was up with you ditching me last minute at the Yule Ball? I never really got the chance to ask."

Aurum chuckled, staring off into the distance and blushing. "Oh, just—just women things."

Harry pushed himself onto the deck, and almost slipping, Aurum hoisted him up. Her pull was too strong and she ended up throwing him into her arms. It was too close for comfort, so they broke up immediately, Aurum going to the HPFC, and Harry going to the tent with the rest of the champions. She couldn't help but feel like he was gazing at her behind her back as he left.

Ginny and Lavender began squealing as they stared after Harry. They whipped around on Aurum with wide grins that made the blonde only slightly uncomfortable.

"So... someone likes Harry," Ginny squeaked, "and Harry likes someone."

"Of course, but you know, he can be a big prat sometimes." Aurum held her arm and looked down in embarrassment.

"Well you can't be in the Harry Potter Fan Club if you don't like Harry Potter." Lavender rolled her eyes.

"Wait—Potter has a fan club? Where's the Draco Malfoy Fan Club?" Draco scoffed.

Lavender looked up at Ginny. "He is cute."

"We're not making him a club." Ginny groaned.

"I like Harry as a person a lot, but he was really rude about the Yule Ball." Aurum explained. "He's still cute though." Aurum sighed, regretting the words she said despite their truth.

"I can't believe you actually got to dance with him though. How was he?" Lavender asked, twisting her curly locks.

"Awful. Bloody awful. I had to lead." Aurum replied.

"I still like him." Lavender shrugged with a small smile before turning to leave.

"Well, I'm going to go see my brother, you should see yours." Ginny suggested. "By the way, mum's sweater actually looks good on you."

Aurum thanked her, nodded, and followed her into the tent, leaving Draco and the rest of the HPFC behind.

Ronald(who always stared at Aurum, but not as intensively so as she used to with Harry)was sitting with Harry on a bed to the far right. The other champions with the exception of Fleur didn't sit with the people they were required to save.

Aurum plopped down on the bed beside her brother. He pulled her into leaning against him.

"So how did you win this one?" Aurum smirked up at him.

"I'm a natural shark animagus, what do you mean how did I win this one?" Argentum laughed unnaturally loudly. "I'm just kidding, I was able to transfigure myself."

Aurum chuckled. "Well, that's good. You came in first too! I'm sure gramma's proud of you."

"Yes, I hope so." Argentum nodded. He rubbed his neck absent-mindedly. It had a scar which Aurum never had been inclined to ask about.

"Are you and Chantelle dating?" Aurum asked, staring at the teal-haired girl peering in through the tent, wondering if she should come in.

"Yes. When I win the last trial, I'm proposing." Argentum whispered the last part in Aurum's ear. The blonde became very giddy very soon about the idea of Chantelle being her sister-in-law.

"Let's just hope at the vows she says 'I do'." Aurum laughed her way out of the tent.

Then, it struck her. A chill was sent down her spine. Hadn't they only been dating for a few weeks?

* * *

AN: in the original draft, Aurum kissed Harry on the dock, but ain't nobody got time for that

i think I'd rather be in the DMFC if it was OAAO!Draco rather than HP!Draco tbh. I still love the latter, but I've been trying to show his good side a lot more here. Besides, I'm pretty sure JK doesn't even like Draco from what I've heard? And doesn't want Pansy to be happy ever because she was a jerk as a teenager? I'm just


	34. Tea Buddy

AN: argentelle is actually a Disney ship because they get together after knowing each other for like 2.5 seconds

* * *

The Three Broomsticks was rather packed with Hogwarts and Beauxbatons students, Durmstrang preferring Hog's Head. The warm atmosphere was wholly inviting, and the food and drink was very good according to its patrons. What wasn't to like, especially on such a cold day in Hogsmeade?

Chantelle and Aurum decided they needed a girls day out away from their male friends and the worries of the world. So, they sat in the mock-pub, sipping away at butterbeers.

"I can't believe you actually fell for my brother. He's a huge jerk, you know." Aurum chuckled.

Chantelle tittered and looked away. "Oh, well, he's a charmer and I'm sure he means well. Plus, can't forget the looks." she winked.

"Yeah, I wish I could see my crush that way. It's hard because I still like him, like I get butterflies in my stomach when he's around, but he's been acting so—" Aurum struggled to find the words. "—full of himself. That's where it all stems back to."

"He's only fourteen. He'll grow and learn." Chantelle assured her.

"Argentum didn't." Aurum took a slight jab at her brother, but all in good fun. It got a laugh from Chantelle. "So how is everything at Beauxbatons? Is my favorite professor still there?" Aurum asked.

"No, Professor Creme quit because his wife was terminally ill and he wanted to be there for her. He lost her recently." Chantelle sighed heavily, thinking of the man. "I don't believe he's coming back." she opined.

Aurum thought back to Professor Creme, his peach-colored hair, and erect figure. He was soft-spoken, but confident in his work. He passionately loved potionmaking, but had a softer romance burning for his dearly beloved Aquila. The blonde didn't know how to feel about this turn of events. Creme always made her feel like she was at home in Beauxbatons like Chantelle. He was so young, too. It was certainly unfortunate.

"Well, what about Madame Maxime? She's fine, right? I've seen her around." Aurum took a sip of butterbeer, awaiting an answer.

"Yes, yes. Madame Maxime is doing quite splendid. She doesn't really get out much however. See, we've had a bit of a scare with one of our students. You remember Nell, don't you?" Chantelle sighed.

"Oh yes, Nell was in my year. I remember him. I considered him one of my good friends, but he kept calling me 'wolf scum', and at the time I had no idea why. I suppose everybody knew of my lycanthropy except me." Aurum giggled. Werewolves, centaurs, and much more were actually very accepted in France compared to other countries. "He was... _odd_." Aurum smiled small at the memory of the boy with lime hair and amber eyes.

"Nell was a follower of Grindewald, if you recall. Do you remember when we caught him in the potions chambers all those times? He was trying to create the Draught of Living Death. He planned on assassinating Madame Maxime and taking her place. He was going to lead Beauxbatons into war against the other wizarding schools and eventually, the world." Chantelle explained.

The two became cut up in laughter. What a joke! Nell Neman trying to assassinate someone! Of course, it was no secret he admired Grindewald's views and often did try to do dastardly things, but his success rate was so poor it was almost non-existing.

"In all seriousness, there was an attempt and he did kill someone with the Killing Curse. We sent him to Inferdere immediately. He's only in for twenty years of rehabilitation." Chantelle informed Aurum.

"Merlin's beard, I can't believe he turned out that way. I hope he's able to reform. We did like to hang out with him sometimes, if you remember. He could be nice when he wanted to, but he still insisted on calling me names and firing small pea curses at me when I did something he didn't like." Aurum reminisced into her butterbeer.

Aurum, Chantelle, and Nell were a trio that weren't seen as often as just the first two, but more often than not had more fun. They'd go exploring the castle, even the places forbidden, talking at the fountain, swimming in the fountain when no one was looking, roaming the gardens, and taking some things from it for themselves. Nell initiated the bad things with Aurum going along with him and Chantelle trying to stay out of it but finding herself roped in. Detention was more than occasional for the three despite Chantelle being a prefect.

"We had good times without him, too. Though, to be fair, he is how we met." Chantelle mused.

"Yes, whenever we had broken into Professor Creme's potion closet and tried to create a batch of amortentia in the girl's bathroom. I remember." Aurum laughed. "You came down to get us, but found yourself unable to report us because our potion was so strong."

"He made me date him for like, a week. He was such a kid." Chantelle rolled her eyes nostalgically. She sipped her butterbeer thoughtfully. "I just hate that he was so violent that he committed murder."

"Better than my brother." Aurum made the aside.

"Not really. Kind of the same, except I don't expect your brother to do anything horrible like Nell."

Aurum clasped her hands around Chantelle's. "I hope you guys stick together. I'd love for you to be my sister."

"As do I, Aurum. I can't wait to see you more."

Argentum strolled past them towards the counter of the Three Broomsticks. Chantelle took the camera around her neck and took a picture of his backside, smiling mischievously. The girls sat and watched Aurum's brother as his cheery gait typically meant he was up to something foolish. That, or he was drunk, and he had no qualms about breaking the law on that one.

"Hi, welcome to the Three Broomsticks, may I take your order?" the cashier asked. The blonde looked like a Hogwarts sixth year perhaps working part-time. He was tall and had dark circles under his eyes.

"Do you have any liquor?" Argentum asked the cashier.

"Yes, but I need proof of age." the cashier responded in a dead-pan. He didn't seem to be fond of his job.

"I don't have any of that." Argentum mumbled, twiddling his thumbs.

"Sir, I can't serve you if you don't have proof of age."

Argentum leaned down with shifting eyes, pressing his hands on the counter like a pleading child though he was very clearly leaning over it. He whispered, "What if I told you I'm the King of Rats?"

"Please leave, sir." the man wasn't even fazed.

"Augamente!" A stream of water shot behind the cashier from Argentum's wand. "Now you _have_ to serve me!"

"No I don't, please leave the pub." the cashier asked again.

Aurum and Chantelle burst with laughter as Argentum stormed out of the Three Broomsticks.

"I need a man like that!" Aurum joked, referring to the cashier.

He overheard and said in his dead-pan tone, "I'm available during my lunch break and after one in the morning. I can't take days off, I'm all out of vacation days. I spent them working overtime."

Aurum nodded and turned back to Chantelle. "Please take me back to Beauxbatons with you."

* * *

AN: remember that cashier because he comes back in the next part and he's super important. Also, he's not an OC, he's a background character who is also a prefect.

I'd like to take this time to explain how Aurum felt about Chantelle since I can't really fit it in the story. Aurum had a huge crush on this older beautiful girl and literally just followed her around everywhere and caused as much trouble as possible to start seeing her a lot. She never really got over it.

Aurum seems to have a thing for prefects if you catch my drift.


	35. The Sister of a Death Eater

AN: doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom doom

* * *

The maze was the turning point.

Aurum couldn't hope to ever fully understand what happened that night, but with Harry and Argentum trying to explain it, it seemed it would be quite the page turner if ever it was a book.

Their stories lined up, and Aurum had no choice but to believe it was true. That wasn't to say anything for the other students and staff of the schools. There was one thing among the rest that truly stood out.

According to her brother and her crush, Voldemort had returned.

It all started to go downhill when the two entered the maze. Though everybody went in, somehow the other two champions were downed and had no way to win. Neither knew why or how it happened.

Harry and Argentum started at different points, but ended up in the same place eventually.

Harry ran into the clearing of the cup, having just solved a sphinx's riddle and defeating it. Argentum walked into the clearing with confidence and a dark look about him.

Before Harry could even near the cup, Argentum screamed, "Crucio!" whipping out his wand.

Harry ducked and rolled away from the red glowing spirals created, replying with, "Stupefy!"

With waves of his wand, Argentum deflected the spells Harry sent his way after realizing the first didn't work. Despite having this flurry sent his way, Argentum was able to walk to the cup with his free hand out. Harry realized this and reached for it as well. The two ended up touching it at the same time, and were instantly transported to a strange graveyard.

Argentum struggled to rise up and pulled Harry towards him from the ground. They both looked at the cauldron and the large grave with a gargoyle over it behind them.

"What's going on?" Argentum shouted at Harry. "You're the boy wonder, explain."

"I don't know! I know just as much as you!" Harry growled, looking around, trying to identify his surroundings.

A cloaked figure began walking towards them, holding something. It held out a wand in the other hand. Argentum prepared for this and pointed his.

"Kill the spare," a whispering voice said over and over. Argentum knew what this meant.

Assuming they were going to do the same, he shouted, "Avada Kedavra!" and so did the cloaked figure in a hoarse voice. The blast knocked them both back and Argentum ran to the back of a large grave.

He peeked out from behind it to see the cloaked figure remove his hood to reveal a very ratty-looking man. The man was familiar to Argentum, but only like someone he saw in pictures, not really talked about. He was holding a very skeletal baby which he dropped into the cauldron. The ratty man withdrew a knife and cut into Harry's cheek, throwing the blood into the cauldron.

Argentum wished to stay hidden, not wanting to get into a duel with this man, but felt a burning hatred for anyone daring to hurt a child the age of his sister, and especially one so close to her. However, he realized the kind of dark arts he was doing, and the cutting off of his hand proved his strength. He wasn't about to step in.

After gathering bone dust to throw in and muttering some sort of Latin over the cauldron, multiple bouts of green smoke began billowing out, a skeletal and gauntly shadow emerging. When everything cleared, it opened its snake-like eyes, and turned to the ratty man who offered up his cloak admiringly.

The skeleton man threw Harry into the gravestone with just one hand. He walked towards him with the same footing as Argentum, and the boy almost felt himself throw up as he saw himself in the snake-like man.

"Who are you?" Harry asked defiantly.

"I am Lord Voldemort, Harry Potter." the skeletal man replied with a strange cackle.

Argentum remained hidden as Voldemort gave his monologue, panicking and hyperventilating with his hands over his eyes due to the situation he had gotten himself in. He had admired Voldemort's views once, but found himself unable to forgive the deaths of his parents though he told often people otherwise. He didn't really care about his blood, he cared about what others thought of his blood. Now, he either had a choice to stand up against Voldemort or back down.

Wand blazing, Argentum ran out from behind the grave screaming. He tried to tackle the man, but found himself dragged towards him and his arm in Voldemort's hand. He held his wand in a death grip.

"Insolent child. A Creste, no less. You really thought you could kill me?" Voldemort hissed, pure hatred burning in his eyes.

"I don't pity people who take their anger out on kids." Argentum yelled in the man's face.

"You tried to torture me!" Harry screamed.

"Heat of the moment, Harry! Heat of the moment!" Argentum rolled his eyes, his voice frantic.

"Don't you know who this is?" Voldemort cackled as he pointed at Harry who was being held by the gargoyle on top of the grave. "This is Harry Potter, the boy who got your parents killed!"

"My parents were killed by the Goyle's! You don't know what you're talking about!" Argentum roared, his face completely red at the suggestion of his parents dying in any other way.

Voldemort laughed in the face of Argentum's rebuttal. "Your parents died trying to protect this fool just like his own. He gets everyone killed, so why keep him alive, I ask of you." he pointed at Harry. Argentum squinted at the struggling boy, seeing Voldemort's point, but at the same time seeing just a helpless kid that couldn't protect himself against what he was born into.

While Voldemort's attention was on Harry, Argentum took his wand and stabbed Voldemort in the jaw, casting, "Corvus!"

The white-haired boy ran towards the grave, his wand still in Voldemort's jaw. Quickly and in a panic, Argentum searched for a way to free him. The ratty man came from behind and grabbed him by the collar, dragging him to the ground.

Argentum was forced to watch as his spell had worked and Voldemort's head snapped back to release small black crows from his maw. Argentum felt ready to throw up as Voldemort's corrupted smile returned. He took Argentum by the neck, thrusting him to the ground.

"Wormtail! Call my followers to me." Voldemort commanded the ratty man. "We have fresh blood here." he massaged his jaw with a wicked grin.

Wormtail pulled up a sleeve to reveal his Dark Mark. With a small incantation, the Mark glowed bright green and shone into the night sky.

Many people in cloaks apparated in. Voldemort rose up with his foot on Argentum's chest. He sneered at the cloaked figures with as much spite and hatred he could manage.

"How have you all been?" Voldemort asked in a clearly fake jovial manner. "Because I've been dead! And none of you came to help me!"

"My lord, I came." Wormtail squeaked.

Voldemort gave a look to him as if he had just found the love of his life. "And you will be rewarded greatly," Voldemort said.

He yanked the wand out of his jaw and pointed at Wormtail with it. A silver hand was formed from Wormtail's skin through a spell cast by Argentum's wand.

"Malfoy, you never showed your face before now." Voldemort, using a waving hand gesture removed the hood from Draco's father. He was stunned by this and tried to look away from Argentum.

"My lord, we thought you to be dead." Malfoy explained.

"Dead! Ha! Goyle! Where have you been?" Voldemort removed Gregory's father's cloak. "You've an apology to give to this young man. I believe he informed me that you murdered his parents in cold blood."

"They was part of the Order. If we didn't kill 'em, they'd've come after you and stopped your plans to murder that Harry Potter." Gregory's father reasoned, scratching his stubble. "That one's a good kid. Nothin' like his parents. Easy to Imperius." he pointed at Argentum, winking with his only good eye. The other had been stabbed out.

Argentum struggled under the foot of Voldemort, but the skeletal man was slightly heavier than him and much stronger. Argentum began to regret relying on magic only for strength. For struggling under him, Voldemort stabbed his right eye out with his wand. Argentum screamed as the eyeball was removed from the socket.

"Well, Goyle, here is our new recruit, the boy Creste. You two match now. He can cast a perfect Crow Charm. I think he may just be the best in good time." Voldemort brought Argentum up to his knees by the neck. Using the boy's own wand, Voldemort carved the Dark Mark into his arm.

The cloaked figures huddled close together over the pain of Argentum's shouts and screams. It was one of the most dastardly things Voldemort had done that hadn't involved murder. They had gotten their marks willingly and without pain because of such a desire, but they wanted no part of _this_.

"Harry Potter!" Voldemort shrieked with laughter, dropping Argentum. "I'm going to kill you in celebration of this new member! I want a good fight." he released Harry from his grave prison.

The two used their own wands to duel with Voldemort using the Killing Curse and Harry trying Expelliarmus.

Argentum limped away with his wand towards the Triwizard Tournament Cup. Hesitating for a second, he threw his robe's sleeve back over the marked arm. He reached for the cup and recoiled. He hissed at the pains of his eye and arm.

Looking behind him, he saw the ghosts of Harry Potter's parents and others flowing from Voldemort's wand. Argentum looked at Goyle and realized how awful it would be to just run away and leave Harry with the murderer of his parents.

Harry was just like him. His parents were killed and yet he never felt estranged from them like Argentum had. He was very much the better man.

Summoning all the strength he could muster, Argentum cast the Crow Curse once more, sending hundreds of crows barreling towards Voldemort. Harry saw this as his opportunity to get away, and he escaped using the cup with Argentum.

They arrived back at the start of the maze, all bloody and bruised, screaming for help as their families came to their aid.

Aurum, her grandmother, Chantelle and her parents, and Quilliam with his, all ran down in a panic towards Argentum who accepted them with open arms. It was the first time since he was very young he had held onto his family this tightly. He bawled without silence.

Harry was overtaken by the worried Weasley family. Everyone was just happy to see him alive. The two families ended up merging into a giant hug.

"Voldemort is back!" Harry screamed above the murmurs of the crowd and people trying to silence him so he didn't strain himself. "Tell them, Creste! He's back!"

Argentum couldn't even speak, he was so in shock.

Dumbledore came down from the stands to take Harry into Professor Moody's office, and Argentum was escorted to the infirmary to treat his eye wound. It was there at the infirmary that Argentum Creste proposed to Chantelle Chandeliere as he planned to a very successful result. It brought a peek of sun through the dark and cloudy day.

* * *

AN: ohno

volsemort and the death dealers are back!111!111!

Argentum is kind of the opposite of Harry. I hope I made that point. And yes, Argentum is forced into being a death eater now. He can't just rebel.

Also

whispers gently in your ear, _foreshadowing_


	36. Liar

AN: well this is different from the first draft

also, I'm becoming slightly worried that this is going to become seventy chapters or something and surpass My Immortal XD

and sorry for not updating, I've been very busy!

* * *

The sliding doors alerted Aurum to the presence of Draco who stood in the doorway with a serious mood. He grimaced at the empty seat across from his friend.

"I can't believe You-Know-Who's really back." Draco sighed.

"Grandma's super worried. I'm being sent to a safe house this summer." Aurum held her rooster in her lap, petting him subconsciously.

"Well, hopefully I will be too. I can't imagine staying at home with ex-Death Eaters. What if Aurors came to investigate? I wouldn't want to be a part of that." Draco furrowed his brow.

As the train was being loaded, Aurum couldn't help but notice Crabbe shove Draco slightly on his way past as if in envy. Draco turned around angrily, but seeing who it was, he backed off. Instead of pursuing him, Draco sat next to Aurum with a scoff.

"They've gone to the dark side for sure." Draco noted.

"I wish we could just go back to the days when we just hung out in the common room, by the lake, or at Hogsmeade." Aurum leaned against Draco.

"I do too, but it seems the world is just trying to tear us apart." Draco grumbled. "Maybe it wasn't meant to be."

Aurum moved away from him, shaking her head. "You shouldn't say things like that. We were meant to all be equal. We can't help that we became friends. You can't help that you like Hermione. We can't help but be equal."

"You're right." Draco conceded.

"I hope Gregory is happy with his new friends," Aurum said.

"I hope Crabbe's happy with his." Draco rolled his eyes.

"You've never told me how you all met, by the way." Aurum leaned against Draco again. He smiled, remembering their first meeting.

"Yeah, well, it wasn't all that spectacular. Our parents were the real friends. They set us up to be friends too when we were shopping at Diagon Alley for the first time. Then, we found each other on the train." Draco beamed. "I liked Goyle alright, but Crabbe was slightly more on top of things. He had a charm to him and he was clever. Funny, too. I knew at that point that since our humor and thinking was similar, we'd be friends for a while. Sad that wasn't the case." Draco pouted. "I—I really liked him..."

"I'm sorry." Aurum put her arm around his waist. He returned the gesture.

"It's okay. Maybe we were doomed to be this way." Draco bit his lip.

"We'll get them back eventually." Aurum assured him. "We'll be friends once more."

The sliding doors opened again, this time, it was Gregory. He held a dismal expression and appeared frustrated that he had to be here, but the more Aurum looked, it seemed more like pained.

Gregory stared out of the window as he said, "I just want you to know, Aura, before I leave you, that I would do anything for you. I love you and I would die for you. I won't be around anymore because I don't want to see you in pain."

Draco glared at Gregory, obviously upset he was taking the time out of his life just to say this. It seemed to him that it was meant to specifically hurt Aurum.

"I'm not a coward," Gregory said before leaving.

Aurum looked Draco up and down. Draco wrapped his arms around her, nestling her in whatever warmth he had to give.

"Say, Aurum," Draco began, pausing for Aurum's reply.

"Yes?" her eyes started filling with dread for what he was about to ask, but nothing was necessarily off-limits.

"Was anyone else there when You-Know-Who came back? Besides Harry, Argentum, and Pettigrew." Draco shuffled around to face her.

Aurum looked up, pretending to be recalling something, but really just avoiding his wavering stare. She didn't wish to tell him that his father was there along with Crabbe and Goyle's because it wasn't any of her business to tell anybody else's secrets. She would prefer them tell it on their own time rather than have to explain herself what she couldn't possibly know.

"Not that I'm aware." Aurum managed to slip out, trying her hardest not to outright lie. She was unsuccessful in this attempt.

Yet, Draco sat back with a contented smile and she couldn't help but feel as though her little white lie had done its job.

"Good," he said.

* * *

AN: this one is intentionally short

We continue with Order of the Phoenix.

and I'm probably going to start calling ship names just the old fashioned way like Dracaurum or something like that. Well, the other ship names are fine, it's just Princessfrogshipping sounds a little off :/


	37. Bridesmaid

AN: And so we start on the OOTP part!

* * *

"A toast to my family, my friends!"

Wine glasses clinked, announcing the time of dining as Argentum's speech had ended.

The dinner table in his grandmother's home was extended almost two-fold for all of the family. Argentum Creste sat at the head with his newly wedded wife, Chantelle Creste, to the right. On the right side of the table sat Pearl Creste, Aurum Creste, Quilliam Peeper, and Argentum's uncle, Emerald Creste. The left sat Chantelle's parents, Cameron and Cassandra Chandeliere, and her maternal grandparents, Henry and Henrietta Chevalier.

Chantelle's side of the family seemed almost freakishly pale as if they were vampires. Cassandra Chandelier was snow white and tried to hide it with excessive foundation and blush, but her v-neck gave it away. Cameron avoided this by wearing a turtleneck. Henry and Henrietta with all of their sags and wrinkles looked to be on their deathbed anyway.

It had been a while since Aurum had seen her uncle. He lived in France and the last time she saw him, she was starting Beauxbatons. Her grandmother had once told her Emerald looked just like her father but with his mother's brown eyes which eventually passed down to Aurum somehow. If Emerald really did look like her father, Ruby Creste must have been a very handsome and upstanding man. Emerald had a chiseled, shaved face with a chestnut pompadour. He was always a welcome sight.

The wedding had been a small one in the backyard. No attention needed drawn to it. Same for the reception which they now attended. The guests, besides the newlyweds, Aurum, and her grandmother, had no idea as to why the wedding was so small, but no risks could be taken with Voldemort on the loose and Argentum with the Dark Mark.

"I'm just so happy we could finally meet each other." Cassandra started the conversation. "If you don't mind, Argentum, what happened to your parents? Chantelle never told me."

Chantelle widened her eyes and looked at Argentum with fear he might say something rash.

Argentum cleared his throat and did not respond, choosing to ignore the question and take a slice of roast pig from the center of the table. He filled his plate with other items from around the table cooked and brought by the members around the table and began eating in silence.

Cassandra nodded thoughtfully, biting her lip. She must have figured out she might have to mind her business.

"So how was this year at Hogwarts, Aura? Did you like it fine?" Emerald asked, chewing some of the roast. "I remember when your father and I caused so much trouble up and down those halls." he reminisced in his wine goblet. "I guess you guys have a new set of twins though, eh?"

"Yeah, it was pretty good at the start." Aurum mumbled. She didn't want to bring up the ending for reasons such as Argentum's explosive temper, Argentum's explosive temper, and Argentum's explosive temper.

"Well, what happened?" Emerald was taken aback. Apparently there was no chaos at the school besides what was happening in the outside world during his years.

"It was fine. They had a fine year, Em." Pearl told her son.

"Je ne sais pas why you married this man, mon Channie." Henry harrumphed, making his rather large, white mustache bounce on his upper lip. He pointed with his fork at Aurum. "He's so petite and feminine."

"Erm, sir, I'm Argentum's little sister, Aurum. He's sitting over there." Aurum pointed at Argentum for the old man. She had to bite her cheeks afterwards to keep from laughing.

There was a clatter on the table as Henry dropped his utensils in shock. He stared at Argentum with big eyes. "That's even worse! Sacré Dieu! He needs some meat on his bones!"

"Father, please." Cassandra scoffed at his profanity. "Not at the table."

Aurum felt like shrinking in her seat as the Chandeliere's began arguing very hotly in French. Chantelle tried to speak up, but their loud voices drowned her out. Aurum wanted to ask what they were saying, but preferred to stay out of their business. All she could hear from them was the one English sentence the mother spoke, "Eye! His eye, what's wrong with it?"

Interrupting them, a crash much like an earthquake shaking the ground in the upstairs stirred the house. Aurum leapt up from her seat. Her grandmother began to rise, but Aurum put a hand on her shoulder.

"Please, gramma, let me." Aurum offered, trying not to sound worried.

Quilliam rose from his seat, gesturing for her to lead the way. He didn't have to say anything to note that he wanted to come with.

The twosome tiptoed upstairs with Quilliam following close behind Aurum. There were only two bedrooms and a bathroom around the corner of the stairs. The loud noise seemed to come from the first, Aurum's. In fact, she could now hear her rooster, Dragon, crowing loudly.

Hurriedly, Aurum rushed to her bedroom. When she turned on a lamp light by the door, a cloaked figure gasped. It apparated away, but not before Quilliam could latch on. It was some time before they came back.

Quilliam had an arm around and held a wand up to the man's neck. The cloak's hood had been dropped and the figure was now revealed to be a very gruff and scruffy looking man whom neither recognized. There was a peculiar scar on his face which looked as if someone had dragged a wand across it twice. The only thing they could tell about him was that he was a Death Eater.

"Looks like I've had to pay a return visit to your humble abode, Ms. Creste," the man said, his voice like sandpaper.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not sure who you are." Aurum held her wand up to the man, but hers was far more shakier than Quilliam's.

The very hairy man pointed at Aurum's stomach. "Who do you think gave you that bite?"

Aurum's eyes gleamed yellow with fury and suddenly she found herself jumping at the man, only to start floating towards the ceiling of the room. She had gotten so close to the man who caused her and by that way, her friends for having to put up with it, such strife in her years at Hogwarts and now she was regrettably unable to return the favor.

Argentum found himself strolling into his little sister's bedroom, nonchalantly twirling his wand about and even whistling a song from an old sitcom. He gave his sister a wide smirk. Aurum struggled from his magical grasp, but it was inescapable.

"Fenrir Greyback. How nice to finally meet you again." Argentum looked him up and down. "I suppose some scars never heal." Argentum looked down at his wand which was very much sharpened at the end. "I'm never going to forget what you did to my sister."

"Our Lord has called upon you, Creste. He requires your assistance getting into the Ministry of Magic." Fenrir barked, ignoring Argentum's suave hostility. "I need you to come with me."

"Tell him to send me Malfoy or Crabbe. Seniors, obviously. I don't talk to kids. You should also know I don't take orders from mutts." Argentum smirked, adjusting his glasses and then putting his hands in his pockets.

"If I wasn't being held by this psychopath, I'd come over there and squash you like a bug." Fenrir growled.

"Oh? And what has poor, shy, defenseless Quilliam Jameson Peeper done to you?" Argentum pouted, likely knowing of his friend's insanity and purely teasing.

"He's one of the most sadistic people I've ever met, and I know Bellatrix Lestrange." Fenrir glared at Argentum for his perceived ignorance. Quilliam remained silent.

"Taught him well, didn't I?" Argentum wiped a mock tear from the eye he still had. He quickly became serious. "Quill, go deliver Voldemort this pup." Argentum pushed Fenrir's chest, almost knocking the man into Quilliam.

The two apparated out and Aurum was relieved of her position on the roof. She landed on the bed softly.

"I'm telling gramma." Aurum stated with a deep, serious voice.

Argentum howled with laughter. He wiped an actual tear from his eye, he was laughing so hard.

"No, you're not."

* * *

AN: things we've learned today

-Chantelle is the normal one in her family

-Emerald was the cool twin

-Fenrir bit Aurum(the bite is on her stomach in case you were wondering)

-Quilliam is a sadist

-Argentum is a sadist

-oh wait we already knew that one


	38. Skeptical

AN: It feels like forever since I wrote this :'(

* * *

Aurum rested her head on her knuckles as she watched Gregory's house pass by. She turned when it was gone and she and her grandmother had pulled out of the driveway. She hung her head in sad reminiscence. They had so many good times, and now it was likely that they would never come back.

The only reason they had stayed as next-door neighbors to the Goyle's, despite their killing of Ruby and Sapphire Creste, was because the special task force of The Order of the Phoenix(nicknamed the Order) were ordered to stay with the ex-Death Eater families and monitor them. It was like they were on probation. The Weasley's lived near the Crabbe's, the Longbottom's lived across from the Carrow's, and the Creste's lived next to the Goyle's.

After a long drive in silence, they pulled into Grimmauld Place where they would be staying for the rest of the summer and Christmas Break. Aurum had been looking forward to it only because Draco would be there due to his mother fearing him getting caught up in his father's ex-Death Eater mess.

Aurum and her grandmother were sort of late to the party, everyone else had already been there for about a week. The wedding took a few days to prepare for and actually execute, so this resulted in their not so early arrival to the safe space for the Order.

Immediately, Aurum pushed herself into the arms of Draco who greeted her with a grunt of surprise when she did this.

"I can't believe we get to spend the whole summer together!" she squealed happily.

"Well, someone's excited."

Standing in the doorway to the kitchen from the foyer was Remus Lupin. He opened his arms for a hug from Aurum who was more than happy to give it to him as well.

"Is Sirius here too?" Aurum asked with stars in her eyes.

"Of course. Can't leave home without my animagus." Lupin shrugged with a smug smirk.

Sirius came to the doorway holding a stirring spoon and donning an apron. "When I said I wanted to make a Black family meal, I didn't mean that I wanted to do it by myself." he joked to Lupin.

"It's what you get for forgetting to put the curtain over your mother last night. Kept the whole house up with her screaming." Lupin raised a brow. "'Werewolf scum' this, 'mudblood' that... that woman's an earful." Lupin gazed irritably at the portrait by the door.

Sirius shook his head, not taking Lupin seriously. He smiled down at Aurum and Draco, waving his spoon. "What can I say? Husbands never like their in-laws."

The two snickered at the joke, but didn't measure up to the laughter given by Aurum's grandmother behind them.

"Oh I know how that is! It was everyday Ruby was complaining about Sapphire's mother!" she laughed all the way to the kitchen which prompted Molly Weasley—who was attempting to clean Sirius's mess so far up—to ask what about. Pearl was just bursting to tell her.

Aurum followed Draco up to the room where they would be staying. Instead of seeing faces happy to see everyone like she did downstairs, the expressions seemed abysmal when she arrived with Draco. Though, she wasn't sure who they weren't looking forward to seeing.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione had been chatting amongst themselves on a queen-size bed, but once they saw Draco, they stopped immediately. Aurum tried to ignore this and sat on the bed next to theirs.

Aurum began catching Draco up on the recent wedding between her brother and her friend.

"I can't believe they got married. They only knew each other for like, two months." Draco pointed out.

"I know! Something's up, but I don't think she suspects anything." Aurum stroked her chin in deep thought. "It's almost as if she's been—"

"Imperiused?" Draco finished for her.

Aurum nodded. "Yes, I do believe so. Argentum has a history with unforgivable curses, after all. I can't really prove anything yet." She heavily sighed. "Maybe it really is nothing to worry about. After all, I really do want my brother to be happy. Before her, I hadn't seen him laugh as much." Aurum smiled weakly.

"What _would_ be the motive?" Draco furrowed his brow, looking up at the roof of the four-poster bed as of it would give some insight.

"I'm thinking maybe something with her family. I don't really understand just yet. I'm sure it will become more clear. At least she seems just as happy for now." Aurum shared his gaze.

The two stared up at the apparently thought-provoking roof of the bed for a while before cracking up in laughter at the idea.

"Hey, Aurum, you believe me, don't you?" Harry asked from the far side of the room.

"About?" Aurum squinted, trying to figure out what he meant.

"Voldemort being back." Harry explained.

"Oh, well, yes. Why wouldn't I? Remember, my brother saw him too. I've many reasons not to trust my brother, but I don't believe he would lie about something such as that." Aurum nodded.

"Thanks." Harry smiled down at the floor and then turned back towards his friends. They seemed to be playing truth or dare now.

Aurum grinned at Draco. She sing-songed in a whisper, "I think he likes me again."

"I think you're being nutty again." Draco returned the mood.

"Aw, come on. He asked me my opinion. He's not so egotistical as I thought." Aurum kept her hushed tone.

"He's going to be just as big of a prat as he's always been." Draco groaned. "Why don't you settle for Weasley? At least he's not trying to be a hero like some attention-seeking brats."

"Ronald is..." Aurum looked at the redhead who had just now stolen a glance at her. "... nice. However, he's nowhere near as cute or brave as Harry."

"Well, if you must like Potter, I suppose I should encourage you as you do with me and my ventures with Hermione." Draco ceded.

"Thank you." Aurum gave a cheeky grin. Draco grimaced, acknowledging her win in logic. "So as long as Operation Mrs. Potter is on, we can bring back Operation Mrs. Malfoy."

Draco looked to the side, blushing. "Actually, I'd rather her not be a Malfoy."

Aurum was utterly stunned. She furrowed her brow, silent with a gaping grin. She just couldn't fathom the thought of not keeping your last name if you were male, but she needed more information. Surely, it was for a good reason.

"What do you mean by that? Your last name is great! It carries so much pride." Aurum shook her head.

"Yes, but it carries a lot of shameful things too." Draco cringed. "You know, Sirius is doing the same thing when he marries Lupin."

"Well, I suppose you're right, but I don't see shame in carrying a family name. Perhaps I've just never had the experience, but Argentum didn't do that despite our parents." Aurum argued.

"Yes, but he still has his ancestors on his paternal side. It's my choice, anyway." Draco shrugged.

"Okay, so Operation Mr. Granger is on." Aurum gave a thumbs up.

A large bout of laughter came from Harry and Hermione as Ronald blushed furiously, trying to dispel the howling coming from them. Hermione was actually tearing up and Harry nearly fell of the bed, they were laughing so hard.

"I don't get it! I'm not that obvious! She clearly doesn't know I have a crush on her!" Ronald gestured to Aurum.

Aurum raised a brow at the ginger which only served to make him more red and cause Draco to join in on the laughing fits of Harry and Hermione.

At that moment, Ginny strolled in, her hips swaying with power as she smirked at her brother. She leaned on a poster from Draco and Aurum's bed.

"Oh no," she mocked. "I can't believe someone told your crush about—gasp—your crush. I wonder how that feels." Ginny smirked evilly.

"Yours was so obvious, Ginny." Ronald moaned, distraught that his sister had betrayed him so.

"And yours isn't?" Ginny scoffed.

"Well, this is a great start to the week." Draco guffawed.

* * *

AN: all aboard S.S. Ron/Aurum

board now or you're getting left behind ):D (trust me)


	39. Heartbroken

AN: oh hey happy early birthday to everybody's favorite fictional character

* * *

Today was the big day! And Aurum was spending it in the kitchen, baking up a storm. Already Ronald had come down to spy on her efforts, lured down by the entrancing scent of baked goods, and already she had to shoo him away.

Thankfully, Aurum had the kitchen to herself which gave her the freedom to move around as quickly and as precisely as she needed to. And besides, she didn't want help as much as she didn't need it. She was baking a cake for the most wonderful boy in the world because it was his birthday.

Aurum had to pity him though. He was spending his birthday in court. How tragic. Then again, looking at the time, he should've been back by now.

The sound of a crackling fire alerted Aurum to the oven. She checked to make sure nothing's caught on fire. It hadn't, so she scampered outside the kitchen where she found Harry in the living room, covered in soot. He had just stepped out of the fireplace.

Aurum felt her face flush red. She probably looked quite odd with batter staining her lips—who could resist licking the spoon?—and a dirty apron. She made an unintelligible noise followed by a couple of stammerings until finally she screeched, "Don't go in the kitchen! At all!", before running away back to her place at the oven, her face covered by her oven mitts.

A half an hour later, the door to the kitchen swung open forcefully. Aurum jolted around to see Draco strut in with a mildly cool air about him. He seemed disinterested in what she was doing as he leaned back in a seat at the table across from the oven.

"Grandma—I mean—your grandmother told me to check on you. Everything alright?" Draco asked.

Aurum nodded. At the same time, the oven dinged. Gleefully, Aurum removed her large cake and began icing it. It was about the fiftieth time she had baked a cake. The forty-ninth had been at Argentum's wedding. Baking was a passion she typically liked to keep secret due to the fact that it was overtly girly and she liked to transcend tropes from time to time.

"Are you trying to wish Potter a good birthday or kill him?" Draco suddenly sat up, somewhat amazed and simultaneously frightened at the hulking beast of a cake Aurum had produced.

The cake was a triple-layer with milk chocolate icing on the bottom, white in the middle, and German at the top. The mix itself was German chocolate. Aurum flitted around the kitchen, taking milk chocolate chips, white chocolate chip, and white chocolate icing from the cabinets. Atop the cake she spelled out, "Happy Birthday, Harry" and decorated the rest with the chips in circle patterns.

"We're getting some too, right? I mean you made it, and I oversaw the last few minutes." Draco reasoned, licking his lips.

"Well, we are having a party, aren't we?" Aurum shrugged.

"Sirius isn't back from recon yet, and we aren't expecting him until nightfall. Come on, Aurum, what good is a cake if it's cold?" Draco whined.

Aurum widened her eyes, having a eureka moment. "By Merlin, you're right, Draco. I'll just deliver it to him myself."

Draco let out a groan.

"Don't worry, you can carry silverware." Aurum winked.

With confidence in her step, Aurum trekked up the stairs of the apartment, Draco and the silverware in tow. She stopped at the door to the room where Harry, Ronald, and Draco were staying. Usually the Gryffindors were here, so Aurum and Draco typically occupied the living room.

When she came to the door, she could overhear a conversation. Aurum didn't really want to interrupt it, so she planned on waiting until the occupants of the room became silent. During that time, she heard every word. Draco intended to hear it as he pressed his ear up against the door.

"I just don't like her, Hermione. I'm not entirely sure what you don't get about that," came Harry's voice.

Hermione replied, "Harry, she's a nice girl who's interested in you. Honestly, do you know any nicer Slytherins?"

"Harry, I really don't have a problem if—yanno—you like her like that," Ronald said. Aurum could picture his face right at that moment. Not a single freckle could be spotted.

"It's not that, Ron. I have a problem with the fact that she hangs out with Malfoy. I don't get what she sees in him. I mean—fine, I'll give her the fact that she doesn't talk to Crabbe or Goyle anymore, but I don't know what drew her to them in the first place either anyway. At least Malfoy is a cunning linguist," Harry said.

"But this isn't about Malfoy, it's about Creste," Hermione said, a hint of annoyance in her tone.

"I know, but Creste just... I feel like she excuses his actions all the time. I don't want someone who turns a blind eye to clear injustice," Harry said.

Someone groaned in disbelief. She couldn't tell if it was Ronald or Hermione.

"Take the example of Valentine's Day in our second year: Draco switched Ginny's poem with Aurum's out of spite for Ginny and favor in Aurum. Of course Aurum would just let that one happen, wouldn't she?" Harry scoffed.

Aurum and Draco looked at each other with confused expressions. That wasn't what had happened at all. Draco had thought the dwarf delivering Aurum's Valentine to Gregory was rather grumpy, and so asked him to "switch with another dwarf". He didn't think the peevish creature would take the order that literally. So, Harry got the poem,

 _"Over the lands, across the seas, I see_

 _Two star-crossed second years not meant to be._

 _They frolic in meadows of past and pres'nt,_

 _Not knowing the future is where they couldn't_

 _Belong together peacefully unite_

 _In friendship's matrimonious excite."_

And Gregory got the poem,

 _"His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad,_

 _His hair is as dark as a blackboard._

 _I wish he was mine, he's truly divine,_

 _the hero who conquered the Dark Lord."_

But, despite this falsity, Harry continued, "And remember in our third year when Draco called Hagrid a bumbling oaf? And all those times he called for Buckbeak to be killed? What did she do about it?"

Aurum groaned. She hadn't been around for the bumbling oaf comment, but she supposed Harry had a selective memory. In fact, she was sick. Turns out, she was allergic to flobberworms.

However, she did back up Draco's wishes just a little bit. Though, only enough not to step in when he was arguing with the Gryffindors. The hippogriff _was_ rather violent and ill-tempered compared to the others. Vincent's didn't attack him even though he had said rather nasty things to its face in an attempt to copy Draco. Of course, it didn't warrant death, but it should've at least perhaps been taken to a sanctuary where it couldn't hurt anybody anymore.

Also, Hagrid definitely did need to learn a few things about student safety for sure. Aurum wouldn't have been afraid to retaliate when Hermione ended up slapping Draco. When Draco told her about her slapping him, she was just as furious as Draco when he found out about Harry's rude rejection of her.

"Last, but certainly not least: the ferret incident." Harry listed. The title got a laugh out of Ronald. Harry said, "He openly insulted my chances of winning the tournament. Thought I'd only last a second. Thanks to Moody, he shut up. I wasn't expecting him to transfigured himself into a wolf though. That was oddly a little cool since he didn't even have to utter a spell. Point is though, why didn't Aurum stop him from saying such things? She even wore one of those insulting badges!"

Aurum and Draco shrugged. At least he got the details right. The only reason Aurum hadn't stepped in was because she deemed it petty trash talk according to their rivalry. She wore the badge to support her brother, though she had to admit, she did feel rather bad about the fact that it said "Potter Stinks".

"I'm sure she has her reasons Harry. It sounds more like you're upset with Malfoy, anyway." Hermione groaned.

"How about I just say it then? I don't like Aurum. I never have and I never will until she dumps Malfoy," Harry said.

Aurum couldn't keep her calm. She was ready to tear up. The boy she had pined after for so long just didn't return her feelings. Now she knew how Ronald felt. But! She was so close. So close that they had kissed. Even now she could still feel his lips on hers.

Alas, it just wasn't meant to be and now they would never be together. Who was she to dump her best friend over a boy? There was no way. Anyone who truly liked her wouldn't ask her to make that decision. The very thought was highly offensive to her. She almost couldn't stand thinking of Harry now. But, it was still his birthday which was something Aurum had always deemed a momentous occasion. So, he still warranted at least a cake for existing.

Draco sighed. "I'm going in."

"No, I can, I'll be fine." Aurum assured him.

Draco opened the door for her and Aurum walked in, her hands being preoccupied with carrying the cake. She put on the best poker face she could manage. A part of her wanted to drop the cake on the floor, but that would be disrespectful to Sirius since it was his place. Gently, she gave the cake to Harry, and turned around, attempting to leave without a word besides a disheartened, _"Happy birthday..."_

"Aurum, you didn't hear—"

Aurum whipped around on him with a scarlet face. Half from embarrassment, the other half from anger. "All of it, Harry. All of it. I've never had a friend like Draco. Maybe you'll never understand our relationship because I'm not going to explain it to you again. My protests fall on deaf ears, apparently. For a second, I thought you liked me for who I was. You saw past my blood and lycanthropy, and you liked me. I guess that's not the case. Truth is, you hate me for Draco Malfoy. He isn't me, Harry."

With that, she left the room, shutting the door with a slam. Aurum slumped against the wall with her knees to her chest. She was to angry to cry. She just wanted to pout. Draco saw this and stormed into the room. He delivered the silverware, but also a message to Harry that Aurum really just wanted to block out, not being fond if its foul language.

Draco exited the room, brushing his pants off coolly. He nudged Aurum with his foot.

"You alright?" Draco asked.

"Fine, actually." Aurum rolled her eyes. She massaged her temples. "Can we pretend they don't exist for now?"

"Sure." Draco smiled.

He picked her up bridal style, making her laugh, and carried her downstairs. There, they were met by Lupin who was carrying four envelopes. He was going to hand two to them, but saw that their hands were full, so he opened them himself.

"I'd like to inform this here happy couple that they have been selected by Albus Dumbledore to be prefects! Congratulations!" Lupin laughed heartily after reading the letters. "So when's the wedding?"

"Right now and everyone's invited!" Aurum joked. "Except Harry."

"I'm afraid to ask what he's done now. I must take my leave. I have to deliver these other two letters to Ron and Hermione." Lupin managed to sidle past the two on the stairs.

Draco put Aurum down by the door. There, they hopped giddily in excitement over their new positions at Hogwarts.

A tapping on the banister alerted them to a new presence. It was Harry, overlooking them with mild discontent.

"So I guess I have to repeat myself, eh, Potter? Sure, maybe a little louder, right? If I EVER see you come anywhere NEAR Aurum, I will PERSONALLY—"

"Maybe you should calm down a little." Aurum tittered awkwardly.

"I'm not talking to you Malfoy. I need to speak with Aurum privately," Harry said, unfazed by Draco's taunts and threats at this point.

Aurum rolled her eyes. "Harry, I'm not in the mood."

"Please. Just one second." Harry begged.

"Fine. Draco, stay out of this." Aurum waved a finger in front of the blonde. "For your own good."

Aurum followed Harry up the stairs to the third floor where the adults slept. Harry opened a door which led out to a room that overlooked the street. In the room was a large hippogriff whom Aurum recognized immediately. In all her efforts to help in the cleaning of 12 Grimmauld Place, she hadn't seen this room, and she certainly hadn't seen Buckbeak.

"What is he doing here?" Aurum asked, a little freaked out by the monsterish bird.

"Sirius had to get away somehow. Anyway, that's not why I asked you to come here." Harry mumbled. He knelt beside the sleeping creature and petted its feathers as if it were a domestic animal.

"So why, pray tell, here?" Aurum crossed her arms.

"This is a pretty private room. Plus, I like to hang out with Buckbeak when I'm stressed out." Harry smiled up at her genuinely. Aurum felt a bit of her angered demeanor melt away at this.

"What's your story?" Aurum sighed.

"He doesn't like to admit it, but Ron gets pretty jealous of your crush on me. I just didn't want to say what I'm about to in front of him. Aurum, I like you a lot and I just don't want to see you get hurt by Malfoy."

"Hurt? How is Draco going to hurt me?" Aurum was taken aback.

"You think I didn't notice when Crabbe and Goyle left you? I know why. It's because of your blood. They have purist families. It was a no-brainer. Despite what Malfoy preaches, he still has parents who believe the opposite and have final authority over what he believes."

"That's not true. He can believe what he wants to."

"But when the time comes, will he? Aurum, when do you think Malfoy is going to leave you?" Harry seemed genuinely worried over this. Aurum couldn't help but feel a pang of worry herself.

"Harry, I promise you, he won't." Aurum laughed it off, leaving the room to Harry and Buckbeak.

She paused going down the stairs. She had interpreted Harry's message all wrong. In a way, it was true. Gregory left her not because of his own purism, but because his parents tortured him into staying away from her. He left her because of his purist parents. There was a strange logic to Harry's question.

 _When was Draco going to leave her?_

* * *

AN: not the final nail in the coffin for Harry/Aurum fyi

also confirmed, Harry is a bird nerd

but what else is new


	40. Prefect

AN: incoming: one of my favorite ships in this fic of all time

* * *

The prefect's carriage was filled to the brim with tension. Ronald and Draco stared at each other like enemies, Hermione stared at Draco passively, and Aurum couldn't help but find herself in a staring contest with the Ravenclaw prefect, Anthony Goldstein.

Anthony Goldstein was a seventh year. The Ravenclaw prefects were always off-number so that they could lead the rest. It was certainly odd, but no one ever questioned it. Anthony exuded an aura of confidence and maturity. He had the calmest—not to mention American—voice and the most serene of actions. He commanded authority over the rest of the prefects. That wasn't all Aurum liked about him. He also had golden blonde hair which matched hers, and deep emerald eyes that could steal hearts in an instant. He was even taller than Draco and Ronald which was a feat in of itself. He wasn't as brim as her, but more so than Draco who was basically a toothpick.

"First order of business, I suppose, is that we address the elephant in the room," Anthony said. "Yes, I am not a new prefect like you all. I've been doing this for three years, so I'm sure I'll be the one making the most decisions. First of all, I believe we should discuss our plans for making Hogwarts as safe as possible." Anthony caught Aurum's eyes on him. "Creste, would you like to go first?"

Aurum clutched her breast. "Be still, my beating heart." she whispered to herself.

"Kid?" Anthony raised a brow.

"I believe we should have prefects patrolling the corridors after curfew for only an hour. I think that is a permittable time and allows for people to get sleep." Aurum suggested with difficulty for fear of embarrassment.

"We're already doing that," Padma Patil, the Ravenclaw female prefect, said.

Aurum mumbled an apology and looked down with a scarlet face. She twiddled her thumbs under the table. Draco put a calming hand on hers. She looked up at him with confusion.

With greater confidence than even Anthony, Draco said, "I believe we should have a schedule instead of the prefects just patrolling the halls of whatever house they're in. I've heard many complaints over the years from Potter's crew that Slytherins are let off into the night because they have Slytherin prefects."

"If that's the case, what if a Slytherin tries to screw over a Gryffindor?" Ronald blurted out, his face even redder than Aurum's had been a second ago.

"That's why there's a schedule. Slytherins would patrol one night, then Gryffindor, then Ravenclaw, then Hufflepuff, and so on." Draco explained. "Also, I believe prefects should get days off from time to time."

"That sounds lazy." Hannah Abott, the Hufflepuff female prefect, commented. She seemed very work-oriented.

Aurum, knowing what Draco was talking about, figured she might as well explain herself. Besides, she'd be spending the rest of her years at Hogwarts with them. "I have lycanthropy."

The reactions were mixed. Draco was shocked that she would just come out about it. Ron and Hermione weren't surprised, they already knew due to their snowy encounter in their third year. Hannah and her male counterpart, Ernie Macmillan, were a tad freaked out—if you could call jumping and holding onto each other a tad freaked out—, Padma was calm about it, and Anthony rose from his seat seriously. He began clapping. Soon, the whole carriage gave a standing ovation for Aurum. They sat back down after about fifteen or so claps each.

"I don't understand." Aurum blushed.

"It takes guts, kid, to do what you just did." Anthony smiled warmly. It was the kind of smile that melted Aurum's heart immediately. She could tell they were already off to a great start.

"Yeah, I never would've done that. I'd be too afraid of what others thought." Ernie admitted. He quickly corrected himself when Draco sneered at him, "Not that I think anything of werewolves! I'm perfectly fine with them. They're just like anybody else, right?"

"Of course, of course." Hannah hastily agreed. "Just don't huff and puff our house away." she awkwardly joked.

"Aurum, I can't believe you did that! That's really cool of you to be open with us like that." Ronald gave her an even more awkward thumbs-up. Hermione, shielding him from embarrassment, forced his hand down under the roundtable.

"Yes, yes, we must get down to business now." Anthony ordered, waving his hands for everyone to quiet down. "I'd like to take suggestions for how to solve Aurum's issue of lycanthropic prefect-ing."

"One of us could take over for her?" Hannah asked, shrugging her shoulders.

"No, then we would leave our corridor unprotected." Padma rebutted.

"Perhaps we could have someone be a part-time prefect." Hermione suggested.

"How would we decide such a thing? We'd definitely need Dumbledore's permission." Ernie noted.

"This whole meeting is being transcribed by that elf in the corner there to be sent to Dumbledore." Anthony pointed to a house elf who was using a quill and paper much like Rita Skeeter's. Hermione was noticeably upset at this.

"Do we have the power to free all house elves working in the castle? I'd love to get a bill like that passed," Hermione said.

Silence filled the room.

"Did you hear something, Ernie?" Hannah asked, looking away from Hermione, extremely uncomfortable.

"Look, house elves are being abused everyday and even right now as we speak. They aren't paid anything, and if they are, it's an unfair wage." Hermione furthered her point. "To use an example—"

Draco crossed his fingers, whispering, "Please Hermione, don't..."

"—the Malfoy's have had a house elf for years who has been proved to be much happier since being released."

"—and you did." Draco cursed under his breath.

"Watch, if I give that elf over there a sock, he'll be more than happy." Hermione took off her shoe rapidly before anyone could stop her. Anthony stopped her while she held it in her hand.

"Enough! This is a subject not for us. We cannot do anything as we are now. If you want to conduct a meeting for this later, that is perfectly acceptable, Miss Granger. However, this is a meeting discussing the safety of Hogwarts." Anthony squinted, clasping his hands together. "I appreciate your concern for old Ed over there, but now's not the time." he held up a button he took out of his pocket. "S.P.E.W. will have to take it directly to Dumbledore soon enough."

Hermione, for the duration of the meeting, just sat dumbfounded with her shoe in her hand.

After another hour, Ed tapped his wrist at Anthony. The Ravenclaw nodded. "That brings our meeting to a close! We'll meet at the Astronomy tower in a week."

The Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, Padma, and Draco left, but Aurum was stopped by Anthony who was taking refuge in the prefect carriage rather than travel in the compartments.

"Sit down again, kid. I want to talk." he leaned back in his seat.

Aurum took a seat across from him. It felt to her as if they were having a business meeting. She thought she knew what he wanted, though. Throughout the meeting, she felt he hinted around that he seemed to like her.

"I just wanted to know if you... I don't know..." Anthony scratched his chin, looking at some scattered papers in front of him.

"Yeah, I'm free anytime." Aurum shook her head, having no problem with a date with him.

Anthony looked up, surprised at her comment. "No, I just wanted to know if you could cancel your H.P.F.C. meeting at one on the twenty-first. We need that cleared up for an all day meeting."

Aurum bit her lip. "I'll talk to Ginny about it." she stood disappointedly. She was definitely ready to walk out of the door, but Anthony called her back again.

"You're cute, so I'll take you up on your offer of your free time. How does the Three Broomsticks on the first day at Hogsmeade sound?" Anthony asked, tapping his quill on one of the papers absent-mindedly.

"Sure!" Aurum couldn't hide her excitement.

"That's great, kid. I work there, I can get us free drinks."

"Sounds good." Aurum nodded. She was so happy that she could finally find the right guy for her.

Anthony almost made her forget about Harry.

* * *

AN: what is endgame? I don't even know what endgame is.

also the thing with Hermione is a Parks/Rec reference XD I couldn't help myself.

aaaaand Ravenclaw prefects are always two years older than the others if my OG description didn't make sense :)


	41. Believing in Voldemort

AN: and Argentum's plans unfold...

* * *

The first full day back at Hogwarts was just the same as the other years until Potions class. Yes, Snape was still there, the Gryffindor Trio was picked on by him as per the usual, and Draco was doted on like normal. However, there was a new face, and he wasn't a student.

As Snape entered the room, he held an expression of disgust and betrayal. It seemed as if he was against whatever was happening.

Everything Snape said was with a sneer and a curl of the upper lip. He didn't want to do or say anything he was getting ready to. "I've been mandated by Dumbledore to hire an assistant due to complaints from the ministry that I've been quote-unquote, 'too harsh on students'. So I'd like you all to give a warm welcome to the my new assistant."

Hiding his eyes with a witch's hat three sizes too big, the new assistant came stumbling into the room. He stood in front of the blackboard with his back to the class, saluting it. The whole class laughed at this, prompting him to jump, startled, and turn around to the source of the noise. He waved skittishly.

"This hot mess is Quilliam Peeper." Snape squinted at the boy who was now trying to reach out and put his arm around Snape, but found himself grabbing for the table which was further down, thereby slipping. "TAKE THAT BLASTED THING OFF!" Snape barked, having enough of these shenanigans. The class laughed again at this.

With caution, Quilliam removed his hat and set it on the table. Under the hat, it turns out, he was blindfolded.

"Please remove your blindfold as well, Peeper." Snape drawled, fed up with this. "Introduce yourself, if you will."

When Quilliam did as he was told, he folded the blinder in his back pocket. He smoothed his sandy blonde hair back and stared out at the sea of students, a sudden stage fright gathering within him. His hot pink eyes wavered, but focused soon as he gazed intently at Draco, making the platinum blonde slide down in his chair.

"I'd really appreciate it, Peeper, if you could stop making my students uncomfortable and introduce yourself." Snape whacked the boy on the back of the head.

This seemed to snap him back into reality. "Yes sir, Mr. Snape! I'm Quilliam Peeper, but you can call me Quill for short. I graduated Durmstrang just last year. I got a job at the ministry with my best friend as a part of the court for hearings."

"He never told me about it." Aurum muttered, her voice barely above a whisper. There was no way anyone should have heard it.

"Yes, well, he didn't want you to tell your grandmother." Quill responded to Aurum. She widened her eyes and blushed. "Anyway, the ministry thought it'd be a good idea for me to assist Mr. Snape with his classes since we've gotten some complaints and we're trying to make Hogwarts a safer place this year." Quill furrowed his brow at Ronald who was still snickering from Quill's stunts. "I'll have you know I do not snort dragon's eggs."

Ronald blushed profusely and shrugged his shoulders at Harry and Hermione who looked at him with concern. He hadn't even said anything.

Snape furrowed his brow at Quill. He seemed to know something no one else did. "What was that, Peeper?"

"Apologies, sir. I just hate when students talk behind my back, you know." Quill explained.

"I wasn't even speaking!" Ronald shouted.

Quill whipped around on him with a look that could kill. It was a wonder Ronald didn't keel over from falling back in his chair as frazzled as he was.

"Aurum, that's your brother's friend, right?" Harry turned around in his seat and asked, his voice a whisper. "What's with him?"

Before Aurum could respond, Quill said, "Please, Potter. All eyes up here. You can talk to your crush later. It's not important how you plan on winning her back by talking to her solely because you want to kiss her. Your attention needs to be on Professor Snape and myself."

Harry's face was carmine as he dragged his hands through his hair, deeply embarrassed.

Snape placed a hand on Quill's shoulder. "I believe we have begun a very good friendship."

Quill pulled his blindfold out of his back pocket and retied it around his eyes. He breathed a sigh of relief, but Aurum couldn't tell why exactly.

From there on, things just got worse.

The next class was Defense Against the Dark Arts, and the teacher was some woman of Aurum's exact figure in a hand-knitted pink sweater who overtly smelled of fresh kitty litter. She didn't look the part, but looks could be deceiving.

"Hello dearies, I'm Professor Umbridge. I'll be your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for the year. I've been hired here by the ministry so I can teach the new core studies they wish me to." Umbridge's voice was sickeningly sweet and made Aurum extremely uncomfortable. It was like listening to a recording of herself.

Aurum did like what she did with the room though. Where before it was dark like a dungeon, it was now cute and pink with tables lined up nicely. Even Lupin didn't have it this nice. Also, there were pictures of adorable baby monsters strewn about. The baby cockatrice was the cutest to her since Aurum took special pride in her pet rooster, Dragon. It was nice to know someone else appreciated chickens as much as she did.

"I think I might actually enjoy this year," Aurum said, looking around the room.

"I get a bad feeling." Draco muttered, crossing his arms.

"This year, we won't be doing anything in class except reading. It is far too dangerous to allow students to deal with boggarts and cast spells like riddikulus like that half-breed Remus Lupin had you doing. Or casting dark spells like that cretin last year did." Umbridge paced around the front of the room. She smirked as she talked as if she knew of the bull she was spewing.

There was that bad feeling. Because of her comment towards Lupin, Aurum gave the woman a rude hand gesture under the table. Unlike Quill, Umbridge wouldn't be able to see this.

"Professor, won't we need to know how to deal with You-Know-Who coming back? Shouldn't we learn how to defend ourselves?" Neville Longbottom asked.

"Now, the ministry would like for me to relay a message. No matter what anybody will be telling you this year, You-Know-Who is not coming back. He has been dead for years and without more than one witness, we cannot tell you for sure that he has returned." Umbridge waved away the suspicions.

Aurum stood abruptly along with Harry. She was quicker to her feet and to speak. "My brother saw Voldemort! He's the reason my brother only has one eye! He lives!"

"Miss Creste, please sit down!" Umbridge rapped a quill on her desk noisily. "You will be getting detention for a week for such an outburst!"

"It's true! I saw Voldemort with my own eyes! I saw him come back to life, stab out Argentum's eye, and I even dueled with him!" Harry exclaimed, backing Aurum up.

"A week for you too, Potter. Now sit down, the lot of you! We will not be discussing He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named and you will learn to accept my teaching methods no matter how boring they may appear." Umbridge huffed.

Aurum rolled her eyes and sat back in her chair. Draco gave her a golf clap. That was all she needed today.

* * *

AN: Harry should from now on be called The-Boy-Who-Gets-Everybody-In-Trouble

and Quill is a legilimens if you didn't get that. He's not very proud of it and tries to hide it because he can't control it due to his inexperience. When he's calling everybody out on their thoughts, it's like a coping mechanism since he can't handle all of the voices in his head.


	42. Detentionaire

AN: endgame—throwing so many curveballs since this story's conception.

* * *

For a week, Aurum and Harry had been sent to detention in Umbridge's office. Everyday, Draco walked her there, reluctantly sending her off to to the hell Aurum had unwittingly gotten herself into.

Despite the harsh mood it put on her, Draco always tried to cheer her up. It got hard the second day though, when she came back with wounds on her hand. He tried to get her to write to her brother, maybe even go to Quill, they were ministry workers after all. She refused, thinking it would only make things worse.

"I'm going to talk to Hermione tomorrow." Draco twiddled his thumbs and looked down innocently at Aurum who held the face of someone approaching the underworld. Draco continued, "I'm going to ask her out, take your advice. You know, we had some tension at Grimmauld Place. A couple of exchanged looks. It might go somewhere."

"That's great Draco." Aurum bit her lip.

"Hey, Aurum, I'm sorry things didn't go great with Harry. I know you really wanted to like him. Sucks you have to see him everyday now. At least you have Tony now, he's cool." Draco smirked.

"Draco, do you think Harry's right? That you're my bodyguard?" Aurum asked suddenly. She thought through what she just said more and stepped back quickly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

"I know. I think that myself sometimes." Draco shook his head and clasped his hands. "Maybe I really am the reason why Harry doesn't like you, Creste."

Aurum ran in front of Draco. She put her hands on his cheeks. He returned the gesture. "No way, Malfoy."

At that time, Harry happened to walk by on his way as well. "Oi, why don't you just kiss already!" he shouted bitterly.

Aurum groaned and followed him to Umbridge's.

"Go get your Granger, bro!" Aurum shouted behind her shoulder to Draco who gave a thumbs up.

Once Harry and Aurum were in the bright pink office littered with kitty pictures, they didn't speak, look, or listen to each other. No communication happened between them whatsoever. That is, until Friday, the last day.

Before that day, the two just sat in chairs next to each other and wrote what Umbridge told them to. This wasn't because Umbridge forbid them from talking to each other, it was just something they decided not to do on their own.

During the week, Aurum was told to write over and over, "I cannot believe the lies of my brother," and Harry was to write, "I must not tell lies."

When Draco saw the words appearing in her hands, he was understandably outraged. He wanted to inform the ministry, but as Aurum reminded him, Umbridge was sent by the ministry and there was nothing they would do against it. Besides, she was even starting to doubt herself. Because of this, Draco had become stuck in a rut of despair.

That Friday, Harry tried to focus on what he was doing, but couldn't help but gaze out of the window overlooking the quidditch field. They were having quidditch tryouts that day and he was excited to see Ronald try for position of keeper. He had even requested another day to make up for detention, but since Aurum had a problem with it as well since it was a full moon that night, they were both denied.

"I wish I could go watch him." Harry sighed. "But I'm stuck here."

"Maybe you should've thought about that, then, Potter," Umbridge said, dipping a biscuit into a cup of tea.

"Do you have any more of those, Ms. Umbridge? I just had to take some wolfsbane since I won't be able to go to the Whomping Willow tonight. I'd love a chaser." Aurum paused her writing to plead with the teacher.

"Half-breeds don't get biscuits, sweetheart." Umbridge raised a brow and pursed her lips, seemingly enjoying this torment of her students.

Harry nudged Aurum. The blonde groaned at him. "I'm sorry about this."

"It's not like it's your fault. I stood first." Aurum sighed.

"You know, that day when Assistant Peeper said I wanted to kiss you... that was true." Harry mumbled.

"Harry, I really don't care; I have a boyfriend." Aurum scoffed.

Harry turned quickly towards the blonde. "Are you serious?" his voice cracked.

"Goldstein, yeah." Aurum nodded. "Tony's great. He really appreciates me for who I am and doesn't care that I hang out with Draco because he does too, like the other prefects."

"Well, at least it's not a completely Slytherin squad." Harry sighed a breath of relief.

"Did a Slytherin kill your parents or something?" Aurum burst out, gaining a shush from Umbridge.

"Yeah, actually." Harry raised his brows at Aurum. "Everyone knows Voldemort was a Slytherin."

"Okay, well my parents were killed by two Slytherins, and I'm not holding a grudge against them." Aurum argued.

There was a bit of silence. They continued writing diligently.

Harry reached into his robe and pulled out a glass slipper. He held it out in front of her, but she didn't take it. He honestly had the gall to give her a shoe in the middle of detention.

"Harry, why may I ask, are you giving me a shoe?" Aurum smiled small.

"You left it when you were running from the Yule Ball last year. I kept it all this time," Harry said.

"Creepy." Aurum chuckled.

Harry gulped and looked away, his cheeks red. "Oh, sorry, I didn't think—"

Aurum nudged him. "I'm just kidding you, Harry." she accepted the shoe.

"This is sweet, darlings, but you need to get back to work." Umbridge waved a biscuit in front of their faces. Aurum crinkled her nose, her eyes gleaming yellow. She felt like she was being treated like a dog. In the heat of the moment, Aurum snatched the biscuit from Umbridge's hand with just her teeth. Umbridge backhanded her so hard that she fell backwards out of her chair.

Aurum coughed hard on the floor as she knelt down, her back to the ceiling. She held the biscuit in her hands and proudly smiled at it between coughs. A victory.

"What an animal! Might as well stay on the floor. You half-breeds are all the same!" Umbridge huffed.

"Hey! You kept treating her like a stray dog!" Harry yelled, standing.

Umbridge rose as well, glowering knives through Harry. "Well then, I suppose you, Mr. Potter, have landed her and yourself detention every Friday for the rest of the year." Umbridge scowled.

Aurum glared at Harry from the floor. He shrugged, just as angry as she was, though his anger was pointed in a different direction.

And that, was why she didn't talk to Harry anymore.

* * *

AN: Not sure what's worse. Harry's salt or Umbridge's pure devilry.


	43. A Slightly Worried Girl Friend

AN: Draco/Aurum, Ron/Aurum, and Harry/Aurum shippers, avert your eyes! It's the canon!

* * *

"Surprised the 'High Inquisitor' didn't ban Hogsmeade too." Anthony shoved his hands in his jacket pockets with a force unlike anything Aurum had seen.

Aurum smirked at Anthony. He seemed so calm and collected up until now, but even in his rage, he still knew how to contain his anger. He was like a more mature Harry. The Gryffindor would have probably ruffled the snowflakes out of his hair and kicked some black ice. The Ravenclaw stared ahead coolly and glanced down to admire Aurum.

She admired him, too. He was dressed in a jacket that looked like it came right out of the eighties. It had an 'R' on it with an eagle coming out of it, just like every muggle college jacket Aurum had ever seen. He wore the matching cream pants, too. To top off his swerving golden hair was a navy and bronze beanie. Even though he was rightfully ticked off today, his dimples still lit the corner of his cheeks. He took it all in stride. There was always something good in the bad to him.

"Hey, kid, the Slytherin-Gryffindor game is tomorrow night. Shame Ravenclaw hasn't gotten to practice." Anthony sighed. "Well, at least I'm not on the team. But, you're on Slytherin's, and I bet you can't guess who's going to come to your game." Anthony nudged Aurum with a more bro-like shove than a gentle push. She didn't mind this, she did it back. He leaned down and kissed her. It wasn't her first from him.

"Hey, Tony, you don't think she'll see us here, do you?" Aurum asked, suddenly scared. She tensed up and massaged her hand.

Anthony put his arm around her protectively. He pulled her towards his chest. "If she does, I'll pop 'er in the kneecaps with my Louisville slugger." Anthony beamed down at Aurum. He knew she loved when he over-exaggerated his New Yorkian accent. When he did so, her face scrunched up in just one big smile.

"I wish she just kept it at detentions. If she didn't target me with the banning of going near the Whomping Willow, I'd be extremely grateful." Aurum complained because she knew Anthony would just complain right with her. It was almost like dating Harry and Draco at the same time. Everything she thought was good and cute about Harry plus everything that made Draco her best friend.

"Man! I know! It makes me so mad when people are picked on for being different." Anthony groaned up at the sky. Back down to earth, he studied Aurum's chocolate eyes with his emerald. "You know people used to pick on me for my accent?"

Aurum was actually shocked. She buried her head in his chest, laughing.

"It's true, I swear!" Anthony was taken aback that she didn't believe him. He gestured to the rest of the world, looking at anyone who passed as if he was checking to see if they believed him. His dimples shone in the sunlight when Aurum looked back up at him. They kissed again.

With their fingers carefully and designedly entwined, Anthony and Aurum padded through the snow towards their definition of a date: where Anthony worked, The Three Broomsticks, or as he called it simply, Threeb.

Right next door was The Hog's Head, and there was a line to get in. Anthony stood on a small rock, and cupped his hands over his mouth, shouting, "Hey guys! Hog's Head sucks! And I'm not just saying that because I work at Threeb! Take my advice! Their butterbeer tastes like occamy, and I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to taste like occamy!"

Aurum snickered, sitting in the snow next to him, her back to the line. She ran a hand through her hair. What did she do to deserve a guy like Anthony? The Ravenclaw interrupted her thoughts by extending a hand. He pulled her up and brushed the snow off of her skirt without necessarily gazing at it.

"Maybe we should go see what's attracting everybody to the competition?" Aurum suggested.

Anthony groaned. "Yeah, but we need paper and a quill. I have to take notes, report to my boss." he joked, grinning.

They stood in line until a familiar voice called everyone into the bar. It was Ronald Weasley. That only meant one thing. Harry Potter was involved.

"Maybe we shouldn't go, Anthony." Aurum tugged at his sleeve as he started to walk in. Startled, he examined her expression of concern. She looked down at her hand and rubbed it. "Nothing's ever good with Harry Potter, you know. I just get a bad feeling."

"Aura, sweetheart—"

"Don't call me that, please." Aurum looked down and gulped hard.

Anthony shrugged his shoulders. "It's alright, we won't go. Hey, you never told me what happened to your hand."

Aurum moaned. "It's nothing, Tony. Just a bad scar."

Anthony twisted his head in confusion. "What did Potter—"

"Hey!"

Anthony and Aurum looked over their shoulders to see Draco bounded towards them. He stood in front of the happy couple with a large grin.

"Hey, Draco, major change of attitude!" Anthony guffawed at the other prefect's change in demeanor.

"You'll never guess what happened to me." Draco hyped the two up. "I got with Granger!"

"You're kidding!" Anthony's mouth was wide open.

Aurum hopped up and down. "Oh my god!" she squealed. She stood and breathed in and out, regaining her cool. "Draco, how dare you do this without me? I thought you were my bro." Aurum leaned on Anthony with a smirk.

Draco put a hand behind his head nervously. He blushed, saying, "It was just that you were with Tony and so I took matters into my own hands. I just asked her out and she just said 'yeah'. Turns out, people will say yes if you just come out about it instead of holding it in." Draco looked at the group of people going into Hog's Head. "So are you guys going in? Potter's hosting a huge meeting. I'm only coming for Hermione."

"Oh, no, we were just going to Threeb, you know." Anthony nodded.

"No, it's okay, we can go." Aurum tried to smile. "But, I'd like to sit in a corner. Hopefully Harry won't see me."

Anthony raised a brow at Draco who just shrugged.

The threesome walked into the bar, finding themselves seats in a dark corner. The group was full of fifth years and a couple of fourths. Harry, Hermione, and Ron stood at the front. Ron shut the door with a slam.

"Now that the Slytherins have finally decided to join us, we can start." Harry clasped his hands together.

Aurum ducked into Anthony's sleeve. The Ravenclaw stared down at Harry.

"Harry, is Voldemort really back?" Neville asked cautiously.

"Yes, Argentum Creste could testify as well." Harry answered.

"No one takes that prat's word. He's just as much of a crook as that fraud, Lockhart or any pureblooded Slytherin family." Seamus scoffed. Aurum sunk further in her seat. Draco sent a glare at Seamus.

Harry held up a hand. "That's not the point, Seamus. We need to know how to defend ourselves against him and Umbridge isn't providing us the spells we need. I'm going to start teaching a secret class based around it called Dumbledore's Army."

"And just what makes you qualified to do that?" Dean Thomas asked.

"Harry can make a fully corporeal patronus." Hermione offered up.

Draco scoffed, snickering. He punched Aurum's shoulder. "Nothing compared to what I can do, eh, Creste?"

"What can you do, Malfoy?" Ronald crossed his arms, looking up at the loud Slytherin.

Draco shuffled in his seat and looked away, crossing his arms. "I didn't come here to get grilled, Weasley."

"Draco, that's a prefect. That's a friend, there's no need to get hostile." Anthony gestured to Ronald.

The blonde nodded sarcastically and rolled his eyes. He stood abruptly, shocking Anthony and came on down to stand next to Harry. He crossed his arms behind his back.

"I'm a registered animagus." Draco announced, holding his arms out.

"Prove it!" Ginny Weasley spoke up.

"What? You can't trust the word of a Slytherin?" Draco walked up to her, sneering. Aurum looked between the two with concern. Draco was beginning to become out of line.

"Malfoy, what's wrong with you?" Ronald grabbed Draco's shoulder, but was shaken off.

"No, what I want to know is why you all have a problem with me!" Draco raised his voice unnecessarily. He pointed at Harry as he walked towards him. "Especially you, Potter."

Anthony looked down at Aurum. "What's going on?" he asked worriedly. Aurum shrugged, scared to death of what was happening before her eyes.

"Potter, you think you're so great because you're a perfect little Gryffindor. You're brave and kind. You're the one everybody looks up to. But you have skeletons just like the rest of us, don't you Harry?" Draco smiled falsely, standing up to Harry and walking back to the crowd. "So why don't you all believe me? Is it because I'm sneaky? I'm cunning? Is that what the Sorting Hat told you?"

"Draco, calm down." Hermione pleaded.

"I'm perfectly calm, Granger!" Draco gestured to himself frantically.

Michael Corner, Ginny's current beau from what Aurum heard, leaned over to the redhead, whispering, "At this point, he's going to get thrown into Azkaban." Ginny pushed her boyfriend away from her, afraid he might have just caused something, which he did.

Draco bit his cheeks and smiled at Michael. "Yeah, I got it now. My parents were Death Eaters. I'm just supposed to go down that path because I'm Slytherin. All Slytherins are evil, aren't they?" Draco crouched down in front of the Ravenclaw. "Is that what you think, Michael?"

"That's enough, Malfoy." Anthony stood, his voice booming. "You need to leave."

Draco gaped at Aurum. She looked away, ashamed. He nodded. "I see how it is. Have fun making out with Creste, Potter!" Draco screamed with mock joy as Ronald ushered him out.

"So! Any sign-ups?" Harry looked around nervously at the clearly uncomfortable crowd.

* * *

AN: as someone who previously identified as Slytherin, I am fed up with the Slytherin stigma.

as a newly identifying hufflepuff, I think everyone should get along.


	44. Betrayed

AN: should've been called Angst and Oranges.

* * *

Aurum sat down on the black leather couch next to Draco in front of the fire. He was draped in a blanket like a lot of students usually were since it was so cold down in the dungeons. She had just returned from the date she had with Anthony.

She presented him with a mug of butterbeer from The Three Broomsticks which she had gotten just for him. He accepted it hesitantly and then drank like he never had before.

"What happened?" Aurum asked, putting an arm around Draco's shoulder. "That wasn't you, Draco."

He wiped off the drink trailing his chin. He got a good breath and began by saying, "Ah, I lied."

Aurum was shocked. "Lied? About what? Draco, we never lie to each other."

"I didn't really talk to Granger. I was too nervous to confront her myself. You know she wouldn't like me anyway. Besides, I couldn't even talk to her without Potter getting in my business." Draco buried his nose in the butterbeer along with his mouth.

"Draco..." Aurum leaned back on the couch. So much so that she put her legs in Draco's lap. She put a hand on her forehead. "Secrets, Draco. They split us apart. I thought we learned that already."

"I know, I know. I just wanted—I thought it would make you happy if I was—if you thought I was happy." Draco threw up his hands, dropping his butterbeer. He stood immediately, cursing.

Aurum sat up, concerned. "Draco—"

"Something's bothered me, Aurum." Draco massaged his temples. "When that Quill guy looked at me... all of my demons came out. They were all coming to the front."

"What did he show you?" Aurum asked.

"It's just something I never want to think about again." Draco waved her away, beginning to pace in front of the fireplace.

"Draco, you can tell me anything." she held out her hand. Draco looked at it miserably, his lip twitching. "Slytherin Duo?" Aurum asked cheekily.

"Yeah," Draco held her hand with a tight grip. "Slytherin Duo." he agreed.

Aurum broke away, hopping up and down excitedly. "Okay, you can't back out now!" she exclaimed.

"I can't back out now?" Draco mocked her tone and expression.

"Yeah buddy, we tell each other everything." Aurum nodded with vigor.

"Well, then can I just say I am sorry for dropping the butterbeer, my bad." Draco put his hands up innocently.

"You don't have to apologize," Aurum rolled her eyes.

"I thought we told each other everything?"

"Yeah, man." Aurum brushed her hair out of her eyes with a sigh.

"You know time when we fought because I called you a 'dirtblood'?" Draco laughed at the past. Aurum nodded, laughing as well. "Vincent and I... we did a lot of talking. When that assistant brought it up, it reminded me of how much of a prat I was."

"We all have those days, Draco." Aurum shrugged and hugged him. "Just forget it, man."

She expected him to laugh with her. She didn't expect him to start sniffling. She leaned back and looked into Draco's wavering silver eyes.

"I'm everything Potter says I am." Draco covered his mouth. "I'm a prat, a prick, a pretentious bodyguard. I'm cunning, a sneak. I'm a purist."

"That's not true," Aurum said slowly, slipping away from her friend. "You're none of those things. You're just my best friend."

"I think about it all the time. How nasty I was back then. I still say those things when I'm with Vincent." Draco looked into the fire with an uneasy expression.

"You're with Vincent? But—"

"What do you think I did when you were hanging out with Chantelle? Or when you're with Anthony? When I said I got with Granger, I was lying, Aurum. I was with Vincent. There's things I have to tell him—things I'm not proud of—to stay with him. If I don't, I can't stay with him or Goyle." Draco's eyes watered. He wiped his eyes rapidly, barely leaving time in a second for breathing.

"I don't care, you don't mean it." Aurum shook her head. "I just wish I could..." she rubbed her right hand with a vacant expression.

"They want me to cut ties."

Aurum's heart was in her throat. Immediately she was taken back to when Gregory told her that he couldn't be friends with her anymore. It made her recall when Harry made his speech atop the stairs at Grimmauld Place.

So this was when Draco was leaving her.

Aurum sighed and made for the painting door, brushing the hair out of her eyes which were now welling up with tears.

"Aurum? Where are you going? Remember, you have to tell me everything." Draco pointed out cheekily.

Aurum spun on her heel. "Actually, Draco, I don't. Because you didn't. You didn't tell me about all this before. I'm not telling you where I'm going." she kicked her way out of the common room even though Draco was shouting for her to come back, apologizing profusely.

Aurum had enough.

Seeking some kind of shoulder to lean on, Aurum sped off to find Anthony. She knew there was no way she was getting into his common room at this time of night, but she was determined and the full moon was guiding her. On her way, she encountered the boy himself. She ended up bumping into his back, startling only her. He kept his cool and turned around to face her with a dimpled smile. He smoothed his golden blonde hair back and held out a hand.

"So how do two prefects just so happen to meet in the middle of the night? I don't think we're setting a good example for the first years, Aurum." Anthony joked. He was quick to notice her begin to cry. He put his arms around her, rocking her as she cried on his chest.

"Draco betrayed me, Tony. He gets to enjoy Vincent and–and Gregory... What do I get?" Aurum sighed, looking up at Anthony. "Well, I suppose I do have an amazing boyfriend." Aurum smiled.

Anthony nodded. He wiped the tears out of her eyes. "Yeah, I guess you're right about that. Still, I know it must be hard to go through friendship drama. If Draco Malfoy really knows what he has, he'll come back. You're going to tell me what happened, right?"

"Yeah."

There was a bout of silence. "Whenever you're ready."

They held onto each other and rocked until their shifts were over, holding this more important than some kids slipping out past curfew. It was their job to ensure the safety of other students, and right now, all Anthony seemed to care about was Aurum's well-being. She didn't know what she did to deserve Anthony.

* * *

AN: I appreciate the Anthony Appreciation Squad


	45. Chaser

AN: how does quidditch even work

* * *

It was the perfect day for Aurum's first quidditch match. The sky was blue and there wasn't a cloud in sight. It was beautiful.

She stood with the line-up of Slytherins she sort of wished she could avoid. There were Draco, the seeker; Vincent and Gregory, the beaters; Venice Montague(also the captain), herself, and Chase Warrington, the chasers; and Jules Vaisely, the keeper.

Across from them was the Gryffindor team. She was mostly okay with them, in fact, she had started up conversations with Angelina Johnson on occasion. Ronald Weasley, their new keeper, was nice, but she feared his crush on her might get in the way of their game. And though she was fighting with Draco, she still wanted him to beat Harry Potter into the ground. Just Slytherin spirit was all.

Angelina Johnson, Gryffindor's new captain, stepped up to shake hands with their captain, Venice Montague. With that, they were off into the sky.

The match's commentator was Lee Jordan as always. His voice was rather grating, in her opinion, when he started announcing everything. Otherwise, it was fine. He was also always more skewed towards Gryffindor which mildly upset her.

The first point was scored by Venice who made a beeline for Ronald's ring. Fearing getting tackled by the large Montague, Ronald ducked out of the way.

Katie Bell got the next as she had an amazing pitch into Jules' ring.

Aurum got a hold of the quaffle as Gregory sent a bludger Angelina's way. She swooped towards Ronald's ring and was simply allowed through. She looked back confusedly. Ronald just hovered on his broomstick with a red face.

"Weasley! Put up a fight! I don't care if you have a crush on me, you can't just—"

Plummeting towards the ground at a high speed, Aurum had been stung by the force of a bludger from Fred Weasley. She quickly groped around for her broom and hopped on, shooting back into the air right before she hit the ground. She still used her old faithful broom, the Nimbus 2001 that Draco had given her.

"Nice recovery, Creste!" Draco shouted as he chased the snitch.

Even though she was having a spat with him, she took the time to thank him for the compliment.

They won the game thanks to Aurum and Venice getting a few points ahead of Gryffindor despite Harry getting the snitch. The Slytherins celebrated by landing their brooms in front of their stands, bowing to their fellow housemates. Aurum relished in her victory until an odd melody caught her ear.

" _Weasley cannot save a thing,_

 _He cannot block a single ring,_

 _That's why Slytherins all sing:_

 _Weasley is our King._

 _Weasley was born in a bin_

 _He always lets the Quaffle in_

 _Weasley will make sure we win_

 _Weasley is our King._

 _Weasley is our King,_

 _Weasley is our King,_

 _He always lets the Quaffle in_

 _Weasley is our King_."

Aurum frantically waved her arms at the crowd for them to stop. She cried out against the song but could not get it to stop. She ran in front of her team to do the same the same action, protesting the continuation of the song.

"We won! Okay? It's not right to brag like _this_." she cried.

Gregory had noticed the first time, hushing for the whole duration of the song. Draco finally noticed her screams above the din of the crowd and ceased, staying silent. He elbowed the conductor of the song, Vincent, who didn't stop since he seemed to be having such a good time. Aurum could tell that Blaise and Pansy were the loudest of the crowd.

"Don't you like the song, Creste? We made it last night for that dumbass that has a crush on you." Vincent smirked at Aurum.

"You're sick, Vincent. I can't believe you'd be so heartless as to say such awful things." Aurum shouted over the raucous noise that could barley be denoted as a song.

"We wanted to include his being a blood traitor, but we settled for him being born in that dirty hovel, you know." Vincent laughed.

Aurum swallowed hard, looking out at the crowd with an intense fury and hatred for the words sung. A few confused first and second years stopped singing, but the fifth and up demographic was so loud, Aurum couldn't hear herself think.

Soon, Anthony approached her and Draco with the rest of the prefects sans Ronald who probably didn't want to show his face. It was rather odd, but Aurum didn't question the fact that Anthony had no other friends besides the other prefects, of whom Padma was his best. Anthony was completely befuddled as to why anybody would be singing the song as were the others. Momentarily he attempted to ignore it in favor of focusing on his girlfriend.

"Are you guys coming to the pool party later?" Anthony asked Aurum. He quickly noticed her anger, looked out at the crowd, and then focused his sights on the team. "Hey, what's going on here?" He marched up to Vincent, staring him down.

"Calm the hell down, Goldstein, we're just bloody celebrating Slytherin's victory." Vincent crossed his arms, peering into Anthony's eyes as if he could get the older boy to back off.

Anthony grabbed his wand from beneath his robes, pointing it at no one in particular. "I want this stopped. As a prefect, I cannot allow you to openly mock and bully another student."

"I'll do as I damn please." Vincent swiftly ignored him, turning back to the crowd and continuing his conducting. He held up a reverse victory sign to Anthony, making the Ravenclaw's face to become redder than Gryffindor's house flag.

"Stand down, Crabbe." Ernie Macmillan demanded, waving his wand around like he was an extremely experienced wizard. It seemed as though Vincent could not hear him, so he fired an expelliarmus which sent Vincent's wand sinking down to the bottom of the quidditch grounds.

Vincent charged at the meek Hufflepuff with a fury like no other. He tackled him to the ground, fighting like a muggle. Anthony and Draco struggled, but finally managed to pull the abhorrent Slytherin off of Ernie. The two left him as the audience dispersed around him.

"I'll not forget this, Goldstein!" Vincent called out as other Slytherins walked around him to get back to their dorms. Gregory was the only one who stayed behind to help him to his feet. "Fuck," Vincent cursed somberly.

* * *

AN: this was foreshadowed in chapter thirteen


	46. Guest of Honor

AN: Aurum isn't usually a wallflower, she's usually the life of the party. Pool parties though... where people are half-naked... that's a different story.

* * *

The after-match party for only the prefects was thrown in the prefect's bathroom on the fourth floor. The tubs which were the sizes of Olympic pools were dyed green and silver for Slytherin's win. A couple of stand-up tables were transfigured from rubber duckies, so they squeaked when you tried to lean on them. Snacks and sweets were brought up from the kitchen.

Aurum showed up fifteen minutes late to the pool party with a loose t-shirt and yoga pants on. She immediately felt her face flush as she realized that everyone else was wearing bathing suits or swimming trunks.

Anthony approached her wearing his eagle-patterned trunks with open arms and a look of confusion. "Kid, I thought I told you it was a pool party."

"I don't swim." Aurum shook her head. She couldn't help but look at Hermione and Draco having what seemed to be a race in the water. "I just came because I wanted to hang out by the snack table and chat. I didn't realize I'd be the only one dressed like this." she focused back on Anthony.

"Well, at least dress down, Aurum." Ernie called out from over by the snack table, holding up a drink. He had a scarred lip and a horribly swollen black eye where he refused to go to Madam Pomfrey for fear of losing his coolness and Hannah wasn't the best healer though she tried.

Aurum gave him a small smile and looked down at her twiddling thumbs. "I guess I can do that."

"Don't worry, none of us actually packed bathing suits, we transfigured everything. I'm sure Padma can change your underwear into a bikini." Anthony assured Aurum. She shrunk a little at the thought. He caught himself, blushing. "Or—you know—a one-piece if you're uncomfortable with two—er, pieces."

"I'll take a one-piece." Aurum mumbled, rubbing her arms. She sought out Padma who was successfully able to preform the spell. It must have came out of some kind of summer wizarding magazine because it wasn't a taught spell, having no real use.

Faithful to her word, Aurum loitered the snack table. There was nothing she really enjoyed in terms of food, so she settled for some virgin gigglewater. As she was ladling the drink out of the punch bowl, a scream rang out across the bathroom, causing her to drop it, splashing the drink across her bathing suit. She searched for the source which ended up being Ernie because Hannah cannonballed into the pool, splashing water all over him.

Aurum rolled her eyes and snickered, gathering her drink. She sat on the edge of the pool, getting her legs wet and nothing else. Draco swam to her edge.

"Creste, you know I'm sorry for what I've been doing." Draco cleared his throat when Aurum tried to ignore him. "I'm really, terribly, horribly, deeply sorry," he said, cupping his hands around his mouth to elevate his voice.

"Whatever, Draco. You can hang around Vincent and Greg if you want. Leave me alone." Aurum kicked water in his face. His face was already wet anyway, she figured. Although, she cringed as soon as she did it.

Draco's face scrunched up into an annoyed and aggravated expression as he dived back under the water, swimming away. Aurum sipped her gigglewater, making her laugh uncontrollably at this.

Anthony took a running start behind her and slid into a dive into the pool, getting her completely wet. She scoffed at him, giving him a cute smile as he winked at her before disappearing underwater.

"So how did it feel to win today?"

Aurum looked down to see Hannah Abott swim up beside her with a cheeky smile. Hannah was a worrywart, but had a heart of gold.

"Felt great, actually. Harry's a really hard seeker to catch up with. Even if Draco didn't get the snitch, I'm glad Jules and I did what we did. Well, really, Venice and Jules were the ones who really came in clutch." Aurum giggled, mock-toasting to the chaser and keeper.

"Did you notice Weasley?" Hannah bit her lip, peering over at the redhead trying to scoop up gigglewater from the punch bowl, looking at Aurum as he did so, and consequently dropping the whole glass.

"It's kind of hard not to." Aurum chuckled. "He's sweet. I wish he didn't make it so obvious though."

"It must be nice to have men see you. Just between you and me, I really like Neville, but he's so oblivious to every hint I give him." Hannah groaned.

"You mean Longbottom? Yeah, makes sense. He's too caught up in the Harry Potter Fan Club to focus on anything else." Aurum laughed, taking another sip of her drink.

"Do you think I should make a move?" Hannah asked.

"Go for it. You never know what might happen." Aurum shrugged with an encouraging smile.

Ernie crouched beside Aurum with an eager expression towards Hannah. "See? I told you everyone knows you should get with Longbottom."

"Thanks, Ern." Hannah smiled at him before diving down into the pool and swimming off to the other side to talk to Padma.

Ernie smirked at Aurum. "She has to get the opinion of everybody. Mine doesn't count because I'm her best friend and I'm supposed to just tell her what makes her happy." he shrugged.

Aurum perked up at the words, "best friend". She turned to Ernie with wide eyes. If she needed friend advice, a Hufflepuff would be the one to know. "Hey, Ernie, if Hannah had been talking with another Hufflepuff who didn't like you—"

"Someone dislikes me? Impossible. I know everyone and everyone likes me." Ernie scoffed.

"—hypothetically, Ernie. What if she was saying bad stuff about you just to get on their good side?"

Ernie thought about it for a minute. "I'd confront her about it and tell her that I didn't want her doing that anymore because if she didn't mean it, then she was lying to someone else. I'd tell her she shouldn't value the relationship of someone who tells you to say bad things about another student or else they wouldn't hang out. What she did from there on would be her choice. But, that's just what I think."

"Thanks, Ern." Aurum smiled and nodded.

She looked out at Draco and Hermione, laughing and having fun. At least he was enjoying himself.

Catching Aurum off guard, Anthony ran up behind her, hoisting her over his shoulders as he jumped into the pool. Submerged underwater, Aurum pushed him with a mild annoyance. She broke the surface of the pool water and laughed once she regained her air. Anthony hugged her with a roar and then spun her in the air.

"You're such a kid." Aurum blushed in his arms.

"Kid, I don't know what you're talking about." Anthony pushed his nose against hers, making her titter.

Aurum smiled down at Anthony's chest but found her gaze being stolen by Draco who was staring at her from across the pool. He was beaming and gave a thumbs up after pointing towards his arm being around Hermione. Aurum grinned for him. He was happy.

* * *

AN: Just to clarify what's going on at the end, Aurum is still torn up about Draco choosing Vincent over her, but she's happy that Draco is doing what he was always trying to do(woo Hermione).


End file.
